TRANSPORT

Airport Security

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the British Airports Authority on  (a) security measures for and  (b) congestion of the baggage handling facilities for domestic inbound travellers arriving at the south terminal in Gatwick.

Gillian Merron: The Secretary of State has not had any recent discussions with BAA on the specific issues raised, although officials in the Department work closely with BAA on a range of issues, including security measures.

China

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the risk of the transfer to China of information which could be used for military purposes through China's involvement in the Galileo project.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 29 June 2006
	The current development phase is a joint project between the Directorate General for Transport and Energy in the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Supervisory Board of the Galileo Joint Undertaking is established to ensure an adequate information flow and political control by member states of the implementation of the development phase.
	The Government are aware of the sensitive nature of some parts of Galileo. We continue to monitor the project closely. We have been careful to ensure that any agreements with partners in the programme that are not member states of the EU or ESA specifically exclude them from participation in all sensitive aspects.
	Individual member states of the ESA and EU participating in Galileo are responsible, under their own national and/or any international export control regimes—such as MCTR (Missile Technology Control Regime) and Wassenaar—of which they are signatories, for the control of strategic exports and should apply these rules to Galileo as required. For example, all EU countries follow the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports which prohibits export of military technology, including dual use technologies where a military end use is known or suspected, to non-EU states, including China, where this is inappropriate. An assessment of the risk of diversion to an undesirable end user or end use is a key criterion under the code. The UK Government assess Galileo technology proposed for transfer to non-EU states against these criteria.

Commission for Integrated Transport

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much it has cost to run the Commission for Integrated Transport in each of the last four years.

Gillian Merron: The principal spend of the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) is on the research programme which underpins its policy advice. The costs of this for the last four years are set out in the following table, together with the Commission's other running costs. Both figures also cover the research and running costs of the Motorists Forum, established by CfIT in January 2000, at Ministers' request.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Programme costs  Running costs (pay and non-pay) 
			 2002-03 1,378,818 328,950 
			 2003-04 604,124 310,211 
			 2004-05 421,971 279,315 
			 2005-06 492,869 250,970

Cyclist Numbers

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of people who travel by bicycle to work in London each day.

Derek Twigg: Transport for London (TfL) estimate that 216,000 work-related cycling trips are made each day. However, TfL is in the process of developing a project to track businesses with travel plans called iTRACE, which in future will provide much more accurate information on the issue of cycling to work. This is expected to be operational by 2008.

Departmental Publications

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to make copies of deposited papers available in the  (a) Vote Office and  (b) Printed Paper Office at the same time as copies are deposited in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Leader of the House on 3 July 2006,  Official Report, column 729W.

Departmental Publications

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the draft Bills produced by his Department since October 2005; how many were examined or are planned to be examined by  (a) a departmental Select Committee or a combination of Select Committees and  (b) a Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport has not produced any draft Bills since October 2005.
	Announcements on future legislation and future draft legislation which will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny will be indicated in the Queen's Speech.

Departmental Travel

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to ensure that all flights undertaken by Ministers and officials in his Department are carbon neutral; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: All central Government ministerial and official air travel is being offset from 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund purchases Certified Emissions Reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries.

Judicial Review

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what occasions an  (a) individual and  (b) organisation has applied for a judicial review of decisions of his Department in each year since 1997; and what the outcome was of each case where proceedings have been completed.

Gillian Merron: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

M11

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to examine the merits of introducing a toll on the M11.

Stephen Ladyman: The use of a tolled lane on the M11 was considered and discussed with BAA Plc as part of the modelling of surface access infrastructure supporting Stansted's second runway. This idea was dismissed at an early stage. No further discussions on this issue have taken place.

Olympics

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which officials in his Department  (a) are responsible for Olympics-related activity and  (b) sit on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group for the Olympics.

Gillian Merron: Lucy Chadwick, Director of Regional and Local Transport Delivery Directorate, leads on Olympic-related issues within the Department for Transport and sits on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group.

Ports

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much it cost to conduct the review of the management of ports in local authority ownership in England and Wales.

Stephen Ladyman: This review was carried out over two years using in-house resources. Exact figures are unavailable, however it is estimated to have cost in the region of £70,000. This includes publication costs. The manpower element of this, £56,332, covers all municipal ports issues not just the review.

Ports

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been budgeted for the cost of the ports policy review.

Stephen Ladyman: The total expenditure to date on the ports policy review has been £200,000 on two consultants' studies contributing to the evidence base; £203,000 internal staff costs and £19,000 launch costs. A further £150,000 has been budgeted for in-house costs for the completion of the exercise, with £90,000 provision for external costs.

Ports

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many checks at ports on commercial vehicles were carried out by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency in each region of the UK in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06; how many infringements were found; how many vehicles were prohibited for overloading; and what other infringements were recorded.

Stephen Ladyman: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) is not able to supply detailed statistics on the exact number of checks carried out in or around individual ports. The majority of enforcement is carried out by intercepting traffic on arterial roads leading to or from a port.
	Details of the number of vehicle checks carried out in 2004-05 and the number of vehicles prohibited is published in VOSA's Effectiveness Report which is available in the Libraries of the House. The 2005-06 report is to be published shortly.

Post Office Contracts

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for which services  (a) his Department and  (b) its associated public bodies hold contracts with the Post Office; and what the (i) start and (ii) termination date is of each contract.

Gillian Merron: Vehicle re-licensing (car tax renewal) and a statutory off-road notification (SORN) service is provided over the counter in approximately 4,600 motor vehicle licensing (MVL) branches. Postal applications are handled in 120 of these offices.
	A photo card driving licence premium service, checking application forms and supporting identity documents, is provided in approximately 740 branches.
	A range of vehicle and driving licence forms, leaflets and booklets are held in all 14,000 branches.
	Over the last five years Post Office Ltd./DVLA has introduced a new electronic system for both vehicle re-licensing and making a statutory off-road notification (SORN) at MVL Post Office® branches through reading barcodes on application forms/registration certificates.
	Since August 2004, when re-licensing their vehicle or making a statutory off-road notification (SORN), customers have been able to notify a change of tax class into the disabled tax class at MVL Post Office® branches.
	The vehicles' re-licensing contract started in April 2002 and terminates on 31 March 2007.
	The premium service contract started in November 2002 and terminates on 31 March 2007.
	Negotiations are under way with Post Office Ltd. to continue both services from April 2007 onwards.

Railways

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of rail and underground journeys are made within London.

Derek Twigg: Statistics on rail travel in and between regions are published in National Rail Trends Yearbook editions, which are available in the House Library.
	Data from the London Underground Rolling Origin-Destination Survey show that 99.2 per cent. of London underground journeys are made within London.
	Information on other city underground systems are published in the Public Transport Statistics Bulletin, which is available in the House Library.

Railways

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many new railway stations have been built in London and the South East since 1995.

Derek Twigg: The answer includes stations that have been re-opened with new buildings.
	Silverlink Trains network: Shepherds Bush and Imperial Wharf are under construction.
	West Brompton had two new platforms opened in 1999.
	C2C network: Chafford Hundred (1995) and West Ham (1999)
	One network, Braintree Freeport (1999)
	South West Trains network: Chandlers Ford (2003)

Railways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he expects all trains to be accessible to disabled people by 2020.

Derek Twigg: The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 requires that all trains are subject to rail vehicle accessibility regulations by no later than 1 January 2020. We are currently developing the necessary regulations and will be consulting on these in due course.
	The Secretary of State will, nevertheless, still have the power to grant exemptions from the regulations, even if these run past the "end date". Parliament accepted the necessity of this during the passage of the Bill for services such as heritage and tourist railways and tramways, which might not be able to meet accessibility requirements in full due to engineering and other constraints.

Road Pricing

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures will be put in place under the proposed road pricing pilot to differentiate between those participating and not participating in the pilot for the purpose of measures taken to compensate those subject to road pricing.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1954W.

Sustainable Transport Towns

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his Department's press release of 22 December 2004, which of the shortlisted towns won the competition to be sustainable transport towns.

Gillian Merron: Details of the Sustainable Travel Towns Initiative, including the three successful towns, can be found on the Department's website at www.dft.gov.uk.

Thames Gateway

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what infrastructure spending he is planning to support the development of the Thames Gateway.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of Tuesday 4 July 2006,  Official Report, column 929W to the hon. Member for North Cornwall.

Transport Links (Yorkshire)

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to improve  (a) road and  (b) rail transportation links between the major towns and cities of Yorkshire.

Gillian Merron: The Department has made substantial investment in road transport related schemes in Yorkshire during the first local transport plan period (2001-06) and will sustain this investment throughout the second period, which runs until 2011. This includes significant investment by the Highways Agency on the motorway and trunk road network in the Yorkshire and Humber region over the last five years. This high level of investment is set to continue with, for example, the innovative £1.29 billion programme announced last year to reduce congestion on strategic routes in South and West Yorkshire.
	To enable better forward planning, the Government in July last year announced three year regional funding allocations to 2007-08 and planning assumptions for 2008-09 to 2015-16, amounting to over £1 billion for the Yorkshire and Humber region. These cover major (greater than £5 million) local transport plan schemes and major Highways Agency schemes other than on those on roads of the greatest strategic national and international importance.
	On rail investment, new services have been introduced between Sheffield and Leeds, and new rolling stock provided to increase capacity on routes to Leeds and Bradford. In addition, the Secretary of State, through the rail re-franchising programme, has sought and will continue to seek improvements to rail links between the towns and cities of Yorkshire.

WALES

Severn Estuary Barrage

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on a reappraisal of the proposal for a barrage in the Severn estuary.

Peter Hain: Regular ones. Tidal energy, such as the Severn Barrage proposal, has huge potential to supply a significant proportion of the country's future energy needs and in turn make a significant contribution to our emissions reduction targets.

Antisocial Behaviour

Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the implementation in Wales of measures introduced to tackle antisocial behaviour.

Nick Ainger: Through measures such as those included in the Respect Action Plan, we are building on the progress we have already made against antisocial behaviour and are now working to tackle its root causes.

Agency Staff

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what average hourly rate was paid by his Department to each employment agency for staff employed through agencies in 2005-06.

Peter Hain: The average hourly rates paid to employment agencies by the Wales Office in 2005-06 are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Per hour 
			 Adecco 14.19 
			 Kelly 11.28 
			 Acorn 9.76

Correspondence

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2006,  Official Report, column 67W, on correspondence, what estimate he has made of the cost of answering the question; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: We do not record the staff time taken in replying to letters. To answer the earlier question, we would have needed to monitor staff time taken for a big enough sample of letters from hon. Members and members of the public over a long enough period to give reasonably representative results. We estimated that the total cost of the exercise would exceed three days' work and cost more than £600.

Departmental Travel

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to ensure that all flights undertaken by Ministers and officials in his Department are carbon neutral; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: All central Government ministerial and official air travel is being offset from 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund purchases Certified Emissions Reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries.

Draft Legislation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his practice is regarding meeting, discussions with and taking into account the views and opinions of  (a) private individuals and  (b) representatives of organisations when drawing up and framing legislation to be introduced by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: The Department always seeks a full range of views when drawing up and framing legislation. Consultation is a key part of the policy-making process; both informal and formal. The Wales Office was an early adopter of pre-legislative scrutiny and the national health service (Wales) Bill was scrutinised during the 2001-02 session. Since then, a further three Bills introduced by my Department were published in draft for consultation: the Public Audit (Wales) Bill; the Transport (Wales) Bill; and, the Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill. A public consultation has always been conducted in parallel with the pre-legislative scrutiny process. My Department has also introduced two further Bills. My Department had conducted a public consultation jointly with the Welsh Assembly on the principles underlying the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill, and as there was general support for the proposals, further scrutiny was not considered necessary, and would only have further delayed the legislation. The Government of Wales Bill, which is currently before the House, was introduced without pre-legislative scrutiny, because the proposals need to be implemented for the May 2007 Assembly elections. Extensive consultation was however undertaken on the White Paper, which was published well in advance of this Bill being introduced. All the Department's formal consultations also abide by the Code of Conduct on Consultation.

Energy Review

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what impact he expects the outcome of the energy review will have in Wales.

Peter Hain: The energy review will provide a framework for the energy policies of HMG and the Assembly Government to meet the four goals set out by the 2003 Energy White Paper: To put ourselves on a path to cut the UK's CO2 emissions by some 60 per cent. by about 2050, with real progress by 2020; to maintain the reliability of energy supplies; to promote competitive markets in the UK and beyond, helping to raise the rate of sustainable economic growth and to improve our productivity; and to ensure that every home is adequately and affordably heated.

Olympics

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which officials in his Department  (a) are responsible for Olympics-related activity and  (b) sit on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group for the Olympics.

Peter Hain: The information requested is as follows.
	 (a) Responsibility for Olympics-related activity in the Wales Office rests within the local government, culture and sport team.
	 (b) The majority of functions concerned with the Olympic and Paralympic Games are devolved to the National Assembly for Wales. The Assembly Government therefore represents Wales on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group. I do, however discuss Olympic issues with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport on a regular basis, and the Wales Office is represented on the Wales Olympic Steering Group, established by the Assembly Government.

Police Force Restructuring

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent meetings he has had to discuss police force restructuring in Wales.

Peter Hain: I have had, and will continue to hold, regular meetings with ministerial colleagues and key stakeholders on this important issue.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Advertising Campaigns

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what advertising campaigns his Department has run since July 2004; and what the  (a) date and  (b) cost was of each.

Hilary Benn: DFID does not hold a separate advertising budget. The majority of advertising spend relates to recruitment advertising in newspapers and journals. For the last two calendar years the costs have been as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2004 594,769 
			 2005 307,359 
		
	
	Since July 2004, DFID has run the following promotional campaigns:
	 Trade Matters Campaign
	To raise awareness of the role of trade in fighting world poverty and promote availability of a new free publication—Trade Matters. Promotional inserts were placed in the following publications:
	
		
			   £ 
			  December 2005  
			 Independent and New Statesman 6,765 
			 Big Issue North 3,290 
			   
			  March 2006  
			 Sunday Herald 2,068 
			 The Grocer 3,713 
			   
			  May 2006  
			 SAGA Magazine 10,340 
			   
			 Total 26,176 
		
	
	 Developments Magazine Campaign
	To increase numbers of subscribers to the Department's free magazine—Developments. Promotional inserts were placed in the following publications:
	
		
			   £ 
			  April 2006  
			 Greenbelt mailing 1,233 
			 Big Issue 5,463 
			 Asian Times 1,110 
			 Christianity Magazine 888 
			 Church Times 1,941 
			 Catholic Herald 1,242 
			   
			  July 2006  
			 Birmingham Post 1,057 
			   
			 Total 12,934 
		
	
	 Developments Magazine and Rough Guide Campaign
	
		
			   £ 
			  October 2005  
			 Black History Month magazine 3,642

Draft Legislation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his practice is regarding meeting, discussing and taking into account the views and opinions of  (a) private individuals and  (b) representatives of organisations when drawing up and framing legislation to be introduced by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID does not regularly draw up legislation, and has not done so since the International Development Act (2002), the main legislation governing its activities. If it were to be involved in future legislation, it would consult widely, both formally—in line with the Code of Conduct on Consultation—and informally.

EU Water Projects

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the relationship between the EU Water Initiative and the EU Water Fund.

Hilary Benn: The EU Water Initiative (EUWI) is primarily a political rather than a financial initiative with five objectives, as follows:
	Reinforce political commitment to action;
	Make water governance effective;
	Improve water management through multi-stakeholder dialogue and co-ordination;
	Support regional co-operation, and
	Identify additional financial resources and mechanisms.
	The EU Water Fund, formally known as the EU water facility (EUWF), was established, in part, as a response to the fifth objective of the EUWI; namely to identify additional financial resources and mechanisms, but there is no formal link between the two. In contrast to the EUWI, the EUWF is a funding mechanism. The Water Facility has made €500 million available for water and sanitation and aims to leverage additional funds from other sources.
	Progress to date has been slow, mainly because of lengthy procurement procedures, but approximately €230 million is currently being committed to co-fund 97 projects, valued overall at €412 million. An initial analysis of these selected proposals by the EUWF has found that by 2010 approximately 10 million people will benefit from access to drinking water and approximately 5 million people will benefit from access to basic sanitation. A second call for proposals has been launched this year and the full €500 million of the water facility will be committed by 2007.

Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the shortfall in funding for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria on the ability of the fund to achieve its objectives.

Hilary Benn: The UK strongly supports the Global Fund and wants it to be effective in the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria. The Global Fund recently revised its resource needs to an estimated US$5.5 billion for 2006 and 2007. There is a current funding gap of US$2.1 billion for 2006 and 2007. Of this, US$1 billion is needed this year to fund a new round of grants which was launched by the board in April. The Mid-Term Review of the Global Fund (4-5 July 2006) will review the fund's performance and mobilise extra resources for 2006-07 to fill the funding gap. The UK has committed £359 million to the Global Fund (2002-08). We have doubled our pledge for 2006 and 2007 to £100 million in each of those years. This means that our overall share of support for the Global Fund at around 5 per cent. is consistent with our support over the 2001-05 period. The UK is meeting its fair share—other donors need to do the same.
	The Global Fund is only one part of our contribution to tackling AIDS, TB and malaria. The UK is committed to spend at least £1.5 billion on the global AIDS response over three years (2006-08), including our support to the Global Fund. We also provide support to the Roll Back Malaria (£7 million pledged to 2008) and Stop TB initiatives (over £49 million pledged from 1999 to 2007), as well as direct support to countries to help tackle diseases of poverty.
	The UK will continue to encourage other donors including the private sector to support the Global Fund. The Prime Minister has also recently made clear that we are committed to working with developing countries, NGOs and other partners to encourage the development of long-term—10 year—health plans and to help ensure that predictable support is available from donors to support them. This will be key in helping countries strengthen their health systems and to be able to more effectively combat AIDS, TB and malaria.

Health Projects

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department has committed for long-term health sector projects in developing countries for  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2007-08 and  (c) 2008-09.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 3 July 2006
	DFID does not track long-term health sector spending because we provide pooled financial support for basic health services. But, as the Prime Minister recently made clear, we are committed to making good on our G8 promises, and a key part of this is to support developing countries with long-term, sustainable financing for health. We are currently working with developing countries, NGOs and other partners to encourage development of long-term—10 year—health plans and to ensure that predictable support is available from donors for them. This long-term support will provide poor countries with the security to make long-term investments and meet the costs of salaries, drugs, infrastructure and training. We have also increased our funding to multilateral organisations supporting countries to strengthen their health services, including to the Global Fund and Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI). We are spearheading innovative efforts to secure significant additional resources for essential health care through the International Finance Facility for Immunisation, with the first bond issue due in the coming months.

Israel

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact on the work of humanitarian agencies of Israel's targeting of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in the military incursions commenced by Israel on 27 June.

Hilary Benn: DFID is in close contact with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) which is monitoring the humanitarian situation in Gaza. All crossing points into Gaza have been closed for goods since 25 June, with the exception of Karni which was open for one day on 2 July. This enabled some humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza. Karni was closed again on 3 July.
	Only diplomats are freely able to enter Gaza. All international staff of humanitarian organisations not holding diplomatic passports, such as those working for non-governmental organisations, require prior co-ordination with the Israeli authorities. No Palestinian staff of humanitarian organisations are able to enter Gaza.
	DFID is helping UNOCHA by providing a movement and access specialist to help the UN coordinate with the Israeli authorities. Current information on humanitarian access to the West Bank and Gaza is available at http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt/.

Israel

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact on  (a) Palestinian health facilities,  (b) the Palestinian economy and  (c) Palestinian water supply and sewage disposal of Israel's targeting of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in the military incursions commenced by Israel on 27 June.

Hilary Benn: The main impact of recent military action has been to the loss of electrical power following damage to Gaza's only power plant. The closure of the Nahal Oz oil pipeline from 26 June to 2 July and greater difficulty in movement due to the destruction of three bridges providing north-south access have also had an effect. Hospitals in Gaza are maintaining services by using back-up generators, although there are reports that supplies of some essential drugs and supplies are nearly finished. It is difficult for anyone from the south to access to the main referral hospital in Gaza city in the north.
	The Gaza economy has been severely constrained since March, when Hamas assumed power. Since then, the access point for exports from Gaza has been closed, trade with Israel has all but stopped and a very limited number of public sector salaries have been paid. Most of the water supply to Gaza is pumped from wells. Supplies are being continued by connecting pumps to generators, but there is concern that fuel for these generators is dependent on the Nahal Oz pipeline remaining open.

Israel

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact on Palestinian schools of Israel's targeting of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in the military incursions commenced by Israel on 27 June 2006.

Hilary Benn: Palestinian schools are currently on summer break and are scheduled to resume in September. There are as yet no reports that Israeli military activity has caused any damage to education institutions.

Opium Poppy Cultivation

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment has been made of the methods used to reduce illicit opium poppy cultivation in  (a) Laos,  (b) Thailand and  (c) Vietnam.

Hilary Benn: The UK Government do not maintain any bilateral programme to reduce illicit opium poppy cultivation in Laos, Thailand or Vietnam and have not made any assessment of the effectiveness of programmes undertaken by others in those countries.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Child Care

Andrew Dismore: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what facilities are made available to Members of House staff to assist with child care costs and arrangements; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The House provides child care vouchers to the value of £8 per child per day. The Commission favours the child care voucher scheme because of its flexibility and availability to staff wherever they are based. Vouchers are available for children up to and including age 11. The vouchers can be used to pay registered child minders, nurseries, playgroups, crèches, nannies, holiday play schemes for school age children, and close relatives who care for children, thus allowing staff a range of choices when making their child care arrangements. Information can be found on the parliamentary intranet. The scheme is currently under review to ensure the House continues to offer the most appropriate arrangements for the majority of staff.

Delegations

Andrew Dismore: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many officials of the House accompanied delegations of hon. Members overseas in the last 12 months.

Nick Harvey: The Overseas Office (European Section) in the Clerk's Department comprises five staff, two or three of whom accompany the UK delegations of hon. Members and Peers to each plenary session of the inter-parliamentary assemblies of the Council of Europe, NATO, OSCE and the Western European Union. One or two European Section staff accompany hon. Members and Peers to some of the assemblies' committee meetings.
	Over the period from 1 June 2005 to 31 May 2006, eight different House staff were involved in undertaking these duties.
	Details of the numbers of staff accompanying Select Committees on visits abroad are given in the annual sessional return published by TSO which is available online, in the Vote Office and in the Library.
	The British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the UK Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the British-American Parliamentary Group and the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body are funded directly by the Government; the staff who accompany delegations of hon. Members and Peers belonging to those organisations are not employed by the House of Commons Commission.

Senior Staff

Andrew Dismore: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what percentage of the House's senior staff are women; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: As at 28 June 2006, 28.9 per cent. of staff in the Senior Commons Structure pay bands were women. This compares with some 48 per cent. for the House service overall. The proportion of women at senior levels is expected to continue to grow in the coming years.

Senior Staff

Andrew Dismore: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what steps the Commission is taking to improve the representation of ethnic minority communities in the House's senior staff; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The House's diversity forum action plan, available on the parliamentary intranet, has a wide range of actions aimed at all aspects of the diversity agenda. Representation of under-represented groups has improved in recent years as a result of measures to remove potential bias from recruitment and internal career progression arrangements, but the effects will inevitably take some time to feed through fully to senior levels.

September Sittings

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost was of the sittings of Parliament in September  (a) 2003 and  (b) 2004; how many contracts were changed due to the decision to sit in September in each year; and what resulting additional cost was imposed on the House in (i) wages and (ii) salaries.

Nick Harvey: The overall daily resource cost of running the House administration in 2003-04 and 2004-05 was £487,000 and £520,000 respectively. The difference in cost between sitting and non-sitting days is small, as the major costs of accommodation and staffing are not appreciably affected. Major works and other contracts were negotiated on the basis of the revised sitting arrangements in both September 2003 and 2004. It is therefore impossible to determine with any accuracy what the actual costs of alternative contracts might have been, but it is estimated that around £90,000 of additional works expenditure was incurred directly by the House sitting in each September period.

Staff Travel Allowances

Andrew Dismore: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, what allowances are made available to senior House staff to assist with travel costs in the event of a late sitting.

Nick Harvey: Senior House staff (in common with all staff) on official duty are entitled to use the late night transport service in the event of a late night sitting. A late night transport service is provided for staff on official duty if:
	the House rises between 11 pm (or if the motion for the Adjournment is moved at or after 10.30 pm) and 9 am the next morning; or
	a Committee rises between 11 pm and 9 am the next morning.
	If there is a major disruption to public transport, the late night transport service is provided from 10 pm irrespective of what time the House rises. The House meets the cost of journeys of 25 miles or less. Staff wishing to travel outside this radius are advised (at the time of booking) to enter into a private arrangement with the driver and pay him/her the additional cost of the journey. Where practicable, taxis are shared between a number of staff.

Staffing Levels

Andrew Dismore: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, when staffing levels in the House were last reviewed; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The last significant review of staff numbers was a review of the needs of the Committee Office in 2003, conducted jointly by the House's Internal Review Service (IRS) and the National Audit Office. More generally, staffing levels are controlled by a budgetary mechanism rather than by limits on staff numbers. The IRS has recently completed the first stage of a review of staff grading. Subject to the views of the Administration Estimate Audit Committee, the second phase will be conducted later in the year.

Tours

Andrew Dismore: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the answer of 14 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1250W, on tours, why it is not the Commission's practice to make available details of the use made by individual hon. Members of the organisation of tours of the House; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: Details of the use made by individual hon. Members of House facilities and services are regarded as personal data, and not appropriate for publication.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Local Authority Constitutions

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether local authorities are required to submit revised constitutions to the Department for evaluation.

Phil Woolas: There is no requirement for local authorities to submit revised constitutions to the Department for evaluation.
	Local authorities are required to submit proposals to the Department for Communities and Local Government in respect of a change from one constitutional model to another. There is no such requirement in respect of revisions to the same constitution. Local authorities will keep their constitutions under review and make amendments as necessary, and it is for the local authorities themselves to ensure that their constitutional arrangements are appropriate and compliant with legislation. The Department has no statutory role in evaluating local authority constitutions.

Outsourcing

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her policy is on local authorities outsourcing administrative functions overseas.

Phil Woolas: Local authorities are responsible for taking their own procurement decisions subject to the requirements of best value legislation and to the EU/UK regulatory framework. This includes any decision to outsource administrative functions overseas. Any specific complaint that best value is not being met in a particular set of circumstances would need to be addressed in the first instance to an authority's external auditor.

Oversight and Scrutiny Committees

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities do not offer the chairmanship of any oversight and scrutiny committees to opposition parties in the council.

Phil Woolas: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold the information requested.

Parliamentary Papers

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to make copies of deposited papers available in  (a) the Vote Office and  (b) Printed Paper Office at the same time as copies are deposited in the Library; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 3 July 2006,  Official Report, column 729W by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House.

Renewable Energy

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities use renewable energy for some or all of their  (a) power and  (b) energy requirements.

Phil Woolas: This information is not held centrally although we understand that a number of local authorities have installed micro-renewables to supply energy for their own use and also pursue initiatives to purchase renewable electricity and fuel.
	As the 2006 Climate Change Programme made clear, local authorities have a key role in achieving the UK's goals on climate change and sustainable energy. Government strongly support innovative local action in this area.

Social Exclusion

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what responsibilities her Department has for tackling social exclusion.

Phil Woolas: The Department for Communities and Local Government leads on policy and delivery in addressing social exclusion and deprivation in deprived areas. The Department has responsibility for the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund which aims to narrow the gap between the 86 most deprived local authority areas and others. It has five key 'floor targets', which are: education, employment, crime, health and housing and physical environment.
	The new Social Exclusion Taskforce, based in the Cabinet office and formed from some previous Social Exclusion Unit staff, is currently undertaking work on an action plan looking at key priorities for the Prime Minister such as looked-after children, mental health, teenage pregnancy and tomorrow's problem families.
	The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster chairs the new Social Exclusion Cabinet Committee on which the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government sits as a key member, reflecting the strong synergies between the work of the Cabinet Office and that of the DCLG.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Correspondence

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has power to insist that the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis answer the letter dated 15 August 2005 and reminder letters dated 10 October 2005, 13 December 2005 and 28 April 2006 from the right hon. Member for North East Hampshire concerning his constituent, Mr Jasdeep Bajwa.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 3 July 2006
	This is an operational matter for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

Crime Reporting

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether arrangements are in place  (a) in Redbridge,  (b) in Waltham Forest and  (c) in England and Wales for the public to report a crime to the police online; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The national police portal (www.police.uk) provides the facility for members of the public to report 'non-emergency' crime and hate crime/incidents online. Event specific forms are available that seek information from the public. The information is then sent to the force in whose area the alleged crime is committed.

Guantanamo Bay

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what procedure is in place to allow hon. Members confidential access to each level of classified material on prisoners in Guantanamo Bay; and in what circumstances access would be denied.

Tony McNulty: Hon. Members can either write to the relevant Minister to request material, or make a request to the relevant public body under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Foreign Secretary leads on most matters concerning prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.
	Access to classified material may be refused in the interests of safeguarding national security

Labour Party Conference

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely impact on policing in Greater Manchester of the policing of the Labour Party Conference in September.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 12 June 2006
	The chief officer is responsible for determining staffing requirements and deploying the resources available in accordance with day to day operational demands, within the overall policy and budget set by each police authority.

Life Sentences

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1035W, on life sentences, for which crimes each of the 53 life sentence prisoners were convicted.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information detailing the offences the 53 life sentenced prisoners were convicted of, as recorded in paper files for the individuals concerned, is set out as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			  Automatic and discretionary life sentences  
			 Automatic 49 
			 Discretionary 4 
			 Total 53 
			   
			  Offence for which automatic life sentence was imposed (index offence)  
			 Manslaughter 7 
			 GBH(1) 31 
			 Possession of firearm(2) 2 
			 Robbery and Possession of firearm 9 
			 Total 49 
			   
			  Offence distribution for discretionary life sentences  
			 False imprisonment 1 
			 Manslaughter 1 
			 GBH(1) 2 
			 Total 4 
			 (1) Offences under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (wounding, or causing grievous bodily harm, with intent). (2 )Offences under section 16 (possession of a firearm with intent to injure), section 17 (use of a firearm to resist arrest) or section 18 (carrying a firearm with intent) of the Firearms Act 1968. 
		
	
	The vast majority of the cases are automatic life sentences under the previous sentencing regime set out in the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. This system meant that repeat offenders convicted of a second serious violent or sexual offence, were automatically sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial judge unless there were exceptional circumstances.
	This framework has since been replaced with Indeterminate Public Protection sentences provided for in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for offenders assessed as dangerous. These new sentences apply to a wider range of offences than those set out in the 1997 Act, and can be imposed for a first offence.
	Information on releases per year is given as follows:
	
		
			  Year of release  Number 
			 2001 1 
			 2002 2 
			 2003 6 
			 2004 18 
			 2005 18 
			 2006 8 
		
	
	The fixing of a "minimum term" arises only in the case of an offender sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment for murder. None of those released since 2000 and referred to in the previous answer were so sentenced.
	The minimum period of imprisonment for all non-mandatory life sentences is known as the "specified part". Details of the specified parts fixed by the trial judge in the cases in question are set out in the following table. At the end of the specified part the offender will be eligible to be considered for release by the parole board. The offender will only be released if the parole board consider it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that the prisoner should be confined.
	
		
			  Table of specified parts 
			  Length of specified part—period to be served before eligible for consideration of release by parole board  Number of offenders since 2000 receiving this period of specified part 
			 One year or under 2 
			 Over one year—up to 18 months (inclusive) 2 
			 Over 18 months—up to two years (inclusive) 9 
			 Over two years—up to two years six months (inclusive) 9 
			 Over two years six months—up to three years (inclusive) 7 
			 Over three years—up to three years six months (inclusive) 9 
			 Over three years six months—up to four years (inclusive) 10 
			 Over four years—up to four years six months (inclusive) 5 
			 Over four years six months—up to five years (inclusive) 0 
			 Over five years—up to five years six months 0 
			 Over five years six months—up to six years (inclusive) 0 
			 Over six years 0

Life Sentences

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1035W to the hon. Member for Monmouth (David T.C. Davies) on life sentences, for what offences the 53 prisoners had been sentenced to life; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: holding answer 19 June 2006
	Information detailing the offences the 53 life sentenced prisoners were convicted of, as recorded in paper files for the individuals concerned, is set out as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			  Number of automatic and discretionary life sentences  
			 Automatic 49 
			 Discretionary 4 
			 Total 53 
			   
			  Offence for which automatic life sentence was imposed (index offence)  
			 Manslaughter 7 
			 GBH(1) 31 
			 Possession of firearm(2) 2 
			 Robbery and possession of firearm 9 
			 Total 49 
			   
			  Offence distribution for discretionary life sentences  
			 False imprisonment 1 
			 Manslaughter 1 
			 GBH(1) 2 
			 Total 4 
			 1 Offences under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (wounding, or causing grievous bodily harm, with intent). 2 Offences under section 16 (possession of a firearm with intent to injure), section 17 (use of a firearm to resist arrest) or section 18 (carrying a firearm with intent)of the Firearms Act 1968. 
		
	
	The vast majority of the cases are automatic life sentences under the previous sentencing regime set out in the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. This system meant that repeat offenders convicted of a second serious violent or sexual offence, were automatically sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial judge unless there were exceptional circumstances.
	This framework has since been replaced with Indeterminate Public Protection sentences provided for in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for offenders assessed as dangerous. These new sentences apply to a wider range of offences than those set out in the 1997 Act, and can be imposed for a first offence.
	Information on releases per year is given as follows:
	
		
			  Year of release  Number 
			 2001 1 
			 2002 2 
			 2003 6 
			 2004 18 
			 2005 18 
			 2006 8 
		
	
	The fixing of a "minimum term" arises only in the case of an offender sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment for murder. None of those released since 2000 and referred to in the previous answer were so sentenced.
	The minimum period of imprisonment for all non-mandatory life sentences is known as the "specified part". Details of the specified parts fixed by the trial judge in the cases in question are set out in the following table. At the end of the specified part the offender will be eligible to be considered for release by the parole board. The offender will only be released if the parole board consider it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that the prisoner should be confined.
	
		
			  Table of specified parts 
			  Length of specified part—period to be served before eligible for consideration of release by Parole Board  Number of offenders since 2000 receiving this period of specified part 
			 One year or under 2 
			 Over one year—up to 18 months (inclusive) 2 
			 Over 18 months—up to two years (inclusive) 9 
			 Over two years—up to two years six months (inclusive) 9 
			 Over two years six months—up to three years (inclusive) 7 
			 Over three years—up to three years six months (inclusive) 9 
			 over three years six months—up to four years (inclusive) 10 
			 over four years—up to four years six months (inclusive) 5 
			 Over four years six months—up to five years (inclusive) 0 
			 Over five years—up to five years six months 0 
			 Over five years six months up to six years (inclusive) 0 
			 Over six years 0

Life Sentences

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1035W, on life sentences, how many of the 53 prisoners were released in each year since 2000.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 20 June 2006
	Information detailing the offences the 53 life sentenced prisoners were convicted of, as recorded in paper files for the individuals concerned, in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
			  Automatic and discretionary life sentences  
			 Automatic 49 
			 Discretionary 4 
			 Total 53 
			   
			  Offence for which automatic life sentence was imposed (index offence)  
			 Manslaughter 7 
			 GBH(1) 31 
			 Possession of firearm(2) 2 
			 Robbery and possession of firearm 9 
			 Total 49 
			   
			  Offence distribution for discretionary life sentences  
			 False imprisonment 1 
			 Manslaughter 1 
			 GBH(1) 2 
			 Total 4 
			 (1 )Offences under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (wounding, or causing grievous bodily harm, with intent).  (2 )Offences under section 16 (possession of a firearm with intent to injure), section 17 (use of a firearm to resist arrest) or section 18 (carrying a firearm with intent) of the Firearms Act 1968. 
		
	
	The vast majority of the cases are automatic life sentences under the previous sentencing regime set out in the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. This system meant that repeat offenders convicted of a second serious violent or sexual offence, were automatically sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial judge unless there were exceptional circumstances.
	This framework has since been replaced with Indeterminate Public Protection sentences provided for in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for offenders assessed as dangerous. These new sentences apply to a wider range of offences than those set out in the 1997 Act, and can be imposed for a first offence.
	Information on releases per year is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Year of release  Number 
			 2001 1 
			 2002 2 
			 2003 6 
			 2004 18 
			 2005 18 
			 2006 8 
		
	
	The fixing of a "minimum term" arises only in the case of an offender sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment for murder. None of those released since 2000 and referred to in the previous answer were so sentenced.
	The minimum period of imprisonment for all non-mandatory life sentences is known as the "specified part". Details of the specified parts fixed by the trial judge in the cases in question are set out in the table below. At the end of the specified part the offender will be eligible to be considered for release by the parole board. The offender will only be released if the parole board consider it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that the prisoner should be confined.
	
		
			  Table of specified parts 
			  Length of specified part - period to be served before eligible for consideration of release by parole board  Number of offenders since 2000 receiving this period of specified part 
			 One year or under 2 
			 Over one year—up to 18 months 2 
			 Over 18 months—up to two years 9 
			 Over two years—up to two years six months 9 
			 Over two years six months—up to three years 7 
			 Over three years—up to three years six months 9 
			 Over three years six months—up to four years 10 
			 Over four years—up to four years six months 5 
			 Over four years six months—up to five years — 
			 Over five years—up to five years six months — 
			 Over five years six months—up to six years — 
			 Over six years — 
			 (1 )Inclusive

Life Sentences

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Monmouth (David T.C. Davies) of 12 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1035W, on life sentences, what minimum term was set for each of those released.

John Reid: Information detailing the offences the 53 life sentenced prisoners were convicted of, as recorded in paper files for the individuals concerned, is set out in the table:
	
		
			   Number 
			  Number of automatic and discretionary life sentences  
			 Automatic 49 
			 Discretionary 4 
			 Total 53 
			  Offence for which automatic life sentence was imposed (index offence)  
			 Manslaughter 7 
			 GBH(1) 31 
			 Possession of firearm(2) 2 
			 Robbery and Possession of firearm 9 
			 Total 49 
			  Offence distribution for discretionary life sentences  
			 False imprisonment 1 
			 Manslaughter 1 
			 GBH(1) 2 
			 Total 4 
			 (1) Offences under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (wounding, or causing grievous bodily harm, with intent).  (2) Offences under section 16 (possession of a firearm with intent to injure), section 17 (use of a firearm to resist arrest) or section 18 (carrying a firearm with intent)of the Firearms Act 1968. 
		
	
	The vast majority of the cases are automatic life sentences under the previous sentencing regime set out in the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. This system meant that repeat offenders convicted of a second serious violent or sexual offence, were automatically sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial judge unless there were exceptional circumstances.
	This framework has since been replaced with Indeterminate Public Protection sentences provided for in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for offenders assessed as dangerous. These new sentences apply to a wider range of offences than those set out in the 1997 Act, and can be imposed for a first offence. Information on releases per year is given in the table:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2001 1 
			 2002 2 
			 2003 6 
			 2004 18 
			 2005 18 
			 2006 8 
		
	
	The fixing of a "minimum term" arises only in the case of an offender sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment for murder. None of those released since 2000 and referred to in the previous answer were so sentenced.
	The minimum period of imprisonment for all non-mandatory life sentences is known as the "specified part". Details of the specified parts fixed by the trial judge in the cases in question are set out in the following table. At the end of the specified part the offender will be eligible to be considered for release by the parole board. The offender will only be released if the parole board consider it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that the prisoner should be confined.
	
		
			  Table of specified parts 
			  Length of specified par— period to be served before eligible for consideration of release by Parole Board  Number of offenders since 2000 receiving this period of specified part 
			 One year or under 2 
			 Over one year—up to 18 months (inclusive) 2 
			 Over 18 months—up to two years (inclusive) 9 
			 Over two years—up to two years six months (inclusive) 9 
			 Over two years six months—up to three years (inclusive) 7 
			 Over three years—up to three years six months (inclusive) 9 
			 Over three years six months—up to four years (inclusive) 10 
			 Over four years—up to four years six months (inclusive) 5 
			 Over four years six months—up to five years (inclusive) 0 
			 Over five years—up to five years six months 0 
			 Over five years six months up to six years (inclusive) 0 
			 Over six years 0

Life Sentences

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Answer to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) of 8 June 2006,  Official Report, column 810W, for what crimes the 23 former prisoners whose life licences have been revoked were convicted; when the Probation Service lost contact with them; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: Of the 23 life licensees referred to in the previous answer to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), 21 had been convicted of murder, one of manslaughter and one of robbery and possession of a firearm. Four of the 23 offenders unlawfully at large at the beginning of June when the information was collated are now back in custody. Police continue to pursue vigorously all information and lines of enquiry in order to find these offenders and effect a swift return to custody. Details of the time that the original 23 licensees have been out of contact with the probation services are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Time  Number of offenders 
			 6 months or under 5 
			 Over 6 months—up to 12 months(1) 5 
			 Over 12 months—up to 2 years(1) 3 
			 Over 2 years—up to 4 years(1) 3 
			 Over 4 years—up to 6 years(1) 4 
			 Over 6 years—up to 8 years(1) 1 
			 Over 8 years—up to 10 years(1) 1 
			 Over 10 years 1 
			 Total 23 
			 (1 )Inclusive

Police

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police stations where  (a) closures and  (b) manning reductions are planned, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Tony McNulty: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Police

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers there are in each ward in London; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 3 July 2006
	This information is not held by the Home Office. The table sets out the number of police community support officers in each London borough operational command unit on 31 March 2006 and is provided by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
	
		
			  Metropolitan Police—Police Community Support Officers 
			  Operational Command Unit  Numbers at 31 March 2006 
			 Barking & Dagenham 42 
			 Barnet 48 
			 Bexley 53 
			 Brent 27 
			 Bromley 57 
			 Camden 55 
			 Croydon 58 
			 Ealing 41 
			 Enfield 50 
			 Greenwich 53 
			 Hackney 51 
			 Hammersmith & Fulham 36 
			 Haringey 39 
			 Harrow 36 
			 Havering 43 
			 Hillingdon 57 
			 Hounslow 41 
			 Islington 40 
			 Kensington & Chelsea 100 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 34 
			 Lambeth 75 
			 Lewisham 49 
			 Merton 34 
			 Newham 82 
			 Redbridge 46 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 38 
			 Southwark 46 
			 Sutton 43 
			 Tower Hamlets 79 
			 Waltham Forest 44 
			 Wandsworth 46 
			 Westminster 272

Probation Service

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) murders,  (b) violent offences,  (c) sexual offences and  (d) other serious offences have been committed by offenders under the supervision of the Probation Service in each of the last eight years.

John Reid: This information for the years 1998 to (March) 2005 is published in annual Home Office Statistics. This can be found in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin 17/05, Home Office Statistical Bulletin 15/04 and Probation Statistics England and Wales 1999.

School Safety

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are being taken to ensure that  (a) knives and  (b) guns are not taken into schools.

Tony McNulty: Measures on ensuring school security are a matter for the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. We work closely with the Department on a range of issues, including current legislative proposals contained in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill on powers for head teachers to search pupils for weapons.

Tasers

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the relevance for practice in the UK of the review of the use of tasers being carried out by the US Department of Justice.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 4 July 2006
	This review is a long-term study by the National Institute of Justice that will be conducted in stages. The Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB) are in regular communication with them via the Memorandum of Understanding between the two organisations. No major issues have been identified by the study to date. Tasers in the UK are only made available to authorised firearms officers as a less lethal alternative for use in situations where a firearms authority has been granted in accordance with criteria laid down in the ACPO Manual of Guidance on Police Use of Firearms.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Agency Staff

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what average hourly rate was paid by her Department to each employment agency for staff employed through agencies in 2005-06.

David Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has used two employment agencies to provide temporary staff during 2005-06. The average hourly rate for staff provided by Josephine Sammons was £14.50 and the average hourly rate for Adecco was £13.96.

Dance Facilities

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what central funding is available for dance facilities in local communities.

David Lammy: Central Government does not provide direct funding for local community dance facilities. However, funding can be made available through local government programmes and through Arts Council England revenue funding for arts organisations. Funding for dance for 2006-07 is £34 million rising to £35 million for 2007-08.
	Since 1994 the Arts Council has also invested £126.4 million into establishing a national infrastructure of dedicated dance venues across the country, including Yorkshire Dance in Leeds, the Laban Centre in London and Dance City in Newcastle.

Departmental Travel

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to ensure that all flights undertaken by Ministers and officials in her Department are carbon neutral; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: All central Government ministerial and official air travel is being offset from 1 April 2006. DCMS's aviation emissions will be calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset.

Draft Legislation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her practice is regarding meeting, discussing and taking into account the views and opinions of  (a) private individuals and  (b) representatives of organisations, when drawing up and framing legislation to be introduced by her Department; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport always seeks a full range of views when drawing up and framing legislation. Consultation is a key part of the policy-making process, both informal and formal. The Department holds regular meetings with representatives of the principal stakeholder groups for our policy areas and with relevant experts. Organisations and individuals can also contribute to the Department's formal consultation which abides by the Code of Conduct on Consultation. Known stakeholders are alerted to the fact that a formal consultation is taking place. As required by the code, the DCMS then gives feedback on the responses received and on how the consultation process influenced the policy decision.

Gambling

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with  (a) her European Union counterparts and  (b) Governments outside the EU on the regulation of internet gambling.

Richard Caborn: I outlined the Government's internal approach to regulating remote gambling when I met Jean-Francois Lamour, French Minister for Youth, Sport and Community Life recently in Paris.
	The Secretary of State will shortly be writing to her counterparts inside and outside the European Union inviting them to participate in an international summit with a view to developing some international minimum standards for remote gambling regulation.

Gambling

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with credit card providers on the use of credit cards for internet gambling.

Richard Caborn: Ministers and officials have met several times with international financial institutions, including credit card providers, to discuss issues relating to internet gambling. We will build on, and develop, these relationships to inform our international summit on remote gambling to explore the development of some minimum international standards for remote gambling regulation.
	We are also supportive of the efforts that the remote gambling industry is making to engage the banking sector.

Gambling

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many cases involving misuse of credit cards for gambling over the internet have been reported in each of the last three years.

Richard Caborn: The Government do not hold this information centrally.

Judicial Review

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what occasions an  (a) individual and  (b) organisation has applied for a judicial review of decisions of her Department in each year since 1997; and what the outcome was of each case where proceedings have been completed.

David Lammy: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Library Facilities

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support her Department makes available for library facilities for older people.

David Lammy: Responsibility for the provision of day to day library services lies with the 149 library authorities in England. Emphasis may differ slightly from authority to authority but older people benefit from library services which are available to all library users. Services include silver surfer sessions, help with charges such as reservations and fines, services to the housebound and homes for the elderly and provision of materials in accessible formats.
	People's Network services funded through Framework for the Future strategy programme are of particular benefit including (i) 'Enquire' service, giving round the clock real-time access to advice from librarians and (ii) 'Read' service, an on-line tool for finding interesting books for individual readers. Both these services particularly benefit people who find difficulty in visiting their library.

National Lottery

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the next lottery licence competition.

Richard Caborn: The National Lottery Commission (NLC) began preparations for the third national lottery operating licence competition in June 2004 with an extensive period of consultation and analysis. The NLC published its statement of main principles in November 2005 before publishing a draft invitation to apply in April 2006 and the final invitation to apply on 29 June. The NLC has asked for bids to be submitted by 15 December 2006 and aims to announce the preferred bidder in mid-May 2007 and finalise the draft third licence with the next operator by July 2007, giving ample time for transition before that licence commences on 1 February 2009. I am confident that the NLC has done everything possible to provide a fair, open and transparent process to deliver a vigorous, well-run competition.

National Lottery

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on progress on the work of the Big Lottery Fund.

Richard Caborn: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for East Lothian (Anne Moffat) on 5 June 2006,  Official Report, column 128W.

Post Office

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for which services  (a) her Department and  (b) its associated public bodies hold contracts with the Post Office; and what the (i) start and (ii) termination date is of each contract.

David Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has no contracts with the Post Office.
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has over 60 sponsored bodies/Executive agencies and the figures for them could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Post Office

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what services  (a) her Department and  (b) its associated public bodies (i) make available and (ii) have made available in the last five years through the Post Office network; through how many outlets the service is or was made available; and how many relevant transactions were undertaken in each case in the most recent year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: DCMS does not have any of its services provided through the Post Office network.
	The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the only DCMS sponsored body that has used the services of the Post Office network in the last five years. It provides services for BBC TV Licensing including budget card payments and refunds from all of its available branches. However, I am unable to provide the total number of transactions because the information relating to television licence fees is not collected centrally by post offices.

Tennis

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which organisations are being supported with public funding to encourage aspiring tennis players to stay in the sport.

Richard Caborn: Significant levels of funding are being provided to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to support grass roots tennis, increase participation and support talented young athletes. Sport England is providing £8 million in Exchequer funding over the period 2005-09 to support the strategic priorities contained in the LTA's Whole Sport plan. These priorities are to attract and retain juniors in the sport; to increase standards and develop better players through a strong network of tennis providers and to develop talented players and coaches to achieve sustained international success.
	Over the same period the LTA has also been provided with £9.4 million in lottery funding through the Community Club Development programme to assist them to develop community sports clubs in order to increase participation and widen access.
	The British Tennis Foundation has been awarded £455,000 in 2005-06 and £272,000 in 2006-07 to deliver the Government's PE, School Sport and Club Links programme. The programme aims to increase the take- up of sporting opportunities by five to 16-year-olds so that 85 per cent. of children by 2008 experience a minimum of two hours high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum each week.
	The Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) has supported young tennis players to enable them to continue in their education while pursuing their sporting ambition. During 2004-05 and 2005-06, TASS supported 48 and 66 tennis players respectively.
	In addition four tennis players have received support through the TASS 2012 programme. Over £310,000 has been provided by TASS to help athletes with their sporting costs and support services.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the distribution is of UK forces between Operation Enduring Freedom and security assistance to the Afghan Government; and whether personnel may be moved between each role.

Des Browne: holding answer 3 July 2006
	When the UK forces' current deployment to Afghanistan is complete, there will be around 5,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan, of which the majority will be under the command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with a small number, including the training teams in Kabul and a number of staff officers remaining under Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) control. Our detachment of Harrier GR7s will be available to support both ISAF and OEF. These are separate and distinct missions, although troops deployed on OEF may also act in support of the NATO mission.

Afghanistan

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the deployment of 16 Air Assault Brigade to Afghanistan is due to cease.

Des Browne: The deployment of HQ 16 Air Assault Brigade and associated force elements will end as planned in October.
	An announcement on which units will replace them will be made in the House in due course.

Afghanistan

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 June 2006,  Official Report, column 2511W, on Afghanistan, what the time interval was between notification of the incident to the local HQ and the arrival of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter on the scene.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 4 July 2006
	The CH-47 Chinook helicopter reaches the scene of the incident within the time period determined by the medical planning guidelines for emergency responses of this type. I am withholding the exact details as disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the security of the armed forces. However, a recently completed post-incident report found no fault with the CASEVAC service.

Afghanistan

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the quality of the intelligence information available to coalition and NATO forces in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: We constantly assess and evaluate the information and intelligence available to coalition and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Such material is evaluated and, where necessary, graded to ensure only reliable and credible material is used.

Aldermaston

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which proposed new facilities and refurbishment projects at Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston are funded from the £1,050 million allocation announced on 19 July 2005.

Des Browne: The programme of extra investment at the Atomic Weapons Establishment embraces a range of activity necessary to sustain Trident for its remaining in-service life. Investment will be made in essential accommodation improvements, business communications, infrastructure, laser physics, hydrodynamics, materials science, high performance computing, uranium component manufacture, fissile and special materials handling, explosives handling, and assembly/disassembly. In the absence of the ability to undertake live nuclear testing in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty era, this investment is necessary to provide assurance that the existing Trident warhead stockpile remains safe and reliable.

Colchester Garrison

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 26 June 2006,  Official Report, column 20, on Colchester Garrison, 
	(1)  how many houses the Department is renting from the private sector to accommodate soldiers from the Colchester Garrison;
	(2) , how many bed spaces will be provided at the new Colchester Garrison; and whether he expects there to be a shortfall of bed spaces.

Adam Ingram: Pursuant to my answer of 26 June 2006,  Official Report, column 20, on Colchester Garrison, I can confirm that 55 houses/flats are rented from the private sector to house the 56 soldiers living in Substitute Service Single Accommodation (SSSA).
	An additional 48 rented properties are no longer required and are in the process of being handed back to the private sector.
	We can confirm that we do not anticipate a shortfall in bed spaces at the new Colchester Garrison based on the current endorsed requirement. The total number of bed spaces is 2,232 and not 2,231 as I said in my reply on 26 June 2006,  Official Report, column 20.

Correspondence

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average cost to his Department was of replying to a letter written  (a) by an hon. Member and  (b) by a member of the public in the latest period for which figures are available; and how much of that sum is accounted for by (i) officials' time, (ii) cost of stationery and (iii) postage costs.

Tom Watson: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The report for 2005 was published on 30 March 2006,  Official Report, columns 76-78WS.
	The information requested is not recorded and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, however it is of note that the Department has received a total of in excess of 15,000 letters from both hon. Members and members of the public over the past 12 months.

Credit Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department will provide information and membership forms for credit unions to its employees.

Tom Watson: The Government welcome the contribution made by the various savings institutions in providing for greater choice and diversity in the financial services sector.
	The Government's guiding principles are to ensure impartiality and to help create a level playing field for all providers of financial services in order that their specific attributes can be properly harnessed.
	It would therefore be inconsistent for a Government Department to favour credit unions above other financial institutions.
	Employees are of course free to join in credit unions if they meet their relevant membership criteria and Departments may provide appropriate levels of support if employees wish to set up a credit union.

Deaths in Action

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Department's policy on the publication of the names of members of the armed forces killed in action has changed since 27 June 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: There has not been a change in the Ministry of Defence's policy on the publication of the names of members of the armed forces killed in action.

Defence Analytical Services Agency

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Reserve Forces data TSP07 for 1 April will be available on the Defence Analytical Services Agency website.

Tom Watson: The anticipated publication date of Reserve Forces (TSP07) at 1 April 2006 is August 2006. Data will be made available on the Defence Analytical Services Agency website immediately upon publication. I will write to the hon. Member to confirm when this has been done.

Defence Training Review

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution the implementation of the two packages comprising the Defence Training Review private finance initiative programme will make to departmental targets for  (a) improved quality of training,  (b) cost reduction and  (c) contractions of the defence estate.

Tom Watson: The Defence Training Review Programme aims to provide the best possible living and learning environment for our people. This programme will make a positive contribution to improving the quality of training while reducing costs through the reduction of the Defence Estate. I am not in a position to make any detailed comment on the exact impact of the Defence Training Review as this will be entirely dependent on the solutions put forward by the Preferred Bidders. An announcement is not expected before the end of the year.

Departmental Premises (Security)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures are in place to ensure that no illegal immigrants are employed in the manned guarding of his Department's premises.

Tom Watson: The Ministry of Defence has a rigorous basic check process, based on Government guidance given in the Cabinet Office's Manual of Protective Security. The basic check is applied to every employee of the MOD, and to contractors' employees working on MOD property. This employment/recruitment check aims to verify identity and nationality details, requires the applicant to declare unspent criminal convictions, and follows up the applicant's employment references.
	We are aware that identity fraud is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and we are taking additional measures to increase the likelihood of illegal immigrants being detected before they are employed. These include the introduction across Government of a more rigorous baseline personnel security standard, replacing the basic check.

Extraordinary Rendition

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, further to his answer of 7 February 2006, Official Report, column 1083W to the hon. Member for Camarthen, East and Dinefwr (Adam Price), on extraordinary rendition, what records were checked in giving his reply.

Adam Ingram: Officials consulted both operational reports and records from deployed headquarters in the relevant theatres.

Food Supply Contracts

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 27 June 2006,  Official Report, column 5WS, on defence food supply contracts, for what reasons Purple Foodservice Solutions was selected as the provider of food services; what process was followed to select the provider; and which other companies applied to be considered.

Adam Ingram: Purple Foodservice Solutions presented the lowest risk and most technically compliant bid which, overall, offered the best value for money. The contract was run under Public Procurement Regulations, which take full account of UK and EU procurement legislation. The other companies that submitted bids were 3663, First for Foodservice, and Brakes Foodservice Solutions.

Gulf War Veterans

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken by his Department towards commissioning  (a) endocrine studies and  (b) genetics studies of Gulf War veterans; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Watson: The Ministry of Defence is guided on its programme of research into Gulf veterans' illnesses by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and has undertaken studies into: the anthropology of "Gulf War Syndrome", cancer, changing health, mortality/morbidity, neuromuscular symptoms, paraoxonase, reproductive health, testing for squalene in vaccines and vaccines interactions. I am aware of a concern on the part of the Gulf Veterans Association and National Gulf Veterans and Families Association that research should be undertaken on possible endocrine and/or genetics aspects of the illnesses experienced by veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf Conflict, as well as on the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate. We are awaiting detailed proposals which we will then refer to the MRC for their independent advice on the case for the Department commissioning such research, taking account of research already being undertaken elsewhere.

Gulf War Veterans

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on research into Gulf War Syndrome, broken down by area of expenditure.

Tom Watson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given in another place on 22 June 2006,  Official Report, column WA99 by my noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State and Minister for Defence Procurement (Lord Drayson) to the noble Lord, Lord Morris of Manchester.

Infantry

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average cost is of  (a) recruitment of an infantryman and  (b) training an infantryman from recruitment to being ready for overseas deployment in an active formation in the latest period for which figures are available.

Tom Watson: The average costs of recruiting and training an infantryman during financial year 2004-05, the latest period for which figures are available, were as follows:
	
		
			  Financial year 2004-05  Costs (£) 
			 Recruitment/selection 7,000 
			 Training phase 1 and 2—the Combat Infantryman Course 23,000 
			  Notes:  1. Costs are calculated on an accrual basis and include non cash items such as depreciation and cost of capital.  2. Only costs that are within the Army Recruiting and Training Division spend are included.  3. There has been no apportionment of indirect headquarters costs to the training and recruiting outputs 
		
	
	Training of infantry recruits is conducted at the Infantry Training Centre (ITC) Catterick. Since 2000 the infantry have had a combined phase 1 and 2 course at Catterick, the Combat Infantry Course, which prepares the infantryman for his first appointment with the field Army.
	Once an infantryman has completed his Combat Infantryman Course at ITC Catterick, he is ready to be deployed on operational service after the completion of the appropriate pre-deployment training, the cost of which is negligible.
	All infantrymen will also undergo phase 3 training during their career, known as Career Training, which provides the soldier with professional development and career progression once he has joined his regiment; this training is also conducted through the ITC and costs on average £8,000.

Iraq

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on changes in the security situation in Basra province since March.

Des Browne: The United Kingdom's area of responsibility in multi-national division (south-east) remains relatively quiet compared to other parts of the country, accounting for around 4 per cent. of overall attacks in Iraq. There has been a rise in violence in Basra, and there have been a number of developments since March that seek to address this. The provincial council has re-engaged with UK forces, allowing the recommencement of the full programme of operational activity for our forces in MND(SE). Most recently, we have secured important undertakings from the Iraqi Government on delivering a new security plan for Basra.

Iraq

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what training programmes in Iraqi native languages are available to troops prior to deployment in Iraq; what type of courses are taught; what levels of proficiency are taught; and how many personnel have taken each of the courses available in each of the last three years.

Tom Watson: There are three courses specialising in Iraqi language training available for troops prior to deployment to Iraq, each with a different proficiency level. The numbers undertaking this training over the last three years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Numbers trained training 
			  Standard language profile level(SLP)  Proficiency descriptor  Description of competence  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 1 Survival(one soldier per sub-unit) Copes with routine, social and practical demands and the most limited work demands. Cannot write in the language 36 60 60 
			   
			 1 Basic patrol Arabic (junior commanders and soldiers) Copes with routine, social and practical demands and the most limited work demands. Cannot write in the language n/a 250 250 
			   
			 4 Operational Linguist Copes with routine social and practical demands using spoken and written skills. Copes with some of the more sophisticated and demanding situations encountered when listening to and reading in the language N/A 12 24 
		
	
	In addition to these courses Cascade Training takes place at unit level during pre-deployment training over anything up to six months. The training is undertaken by those who have completed the Basic Patrol Arabic Course augmented by specially appointed and trained Operational Unit Education Officers. Once deployed training is continued by the same staff augmented by the Theatre Education Centre. Every soldier is also issued with a language card which is taught during pre-deployment training and is practised regularly by all in theatre.

Joint Personnel Administration

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) regular and  (b) reserve army personnel have failed to be fully paid by the army personnel centre since the implementation of Pay 2000; what the total of the underpayments is; what assessment he has made of the reasons for the underpayments; whether he expects all payments to be made prior to the roll-out of joint personnel administration; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Watson: Pay 2000 is the generic term used to describe the incremental pay system for armed forces personnel. It arose as a consequence of the recommendations made in the independent review conducted by Sir Michael Bett in 1995, and was introduced in April 2001 for regular personnel, and November 2002 for reservists.
	Some 14,160 regular and reserve army personnel have been either under, or overpaid electronically at some time since, and as a result of the implementation of Pay 2000. The number of pay accounts in need of rectification was reduced to some 8,900 during 2004-05, and this figure has been reduced further to some 1,000 during 2006. I am confident that the remaining 1,000 pay accounts will be rectified prior to the roll-out of joint personnel administration to the army.
	Arrangements ensure that any shortfalls are paid manually at unit level. The primary causes of the problem have been late changes in the interpretation of policy, computer programming difficulties and the ageing army computer systems.
	The total amount of electronic underpayments could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Meteorological Office

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will reconsider the Meteorological Office plans to withdraw its  (a) mountaincall and  (b) mountainfax services from the general public and mountain rescue services;
	(2)  what specialist services the meteorological service plans to provide for  (a) mountain rescue services and  (b) hillwalkers once the mountaincall and mountainfax services are withdrawn.

Tom Watson: holding answer 2 May 2006
	The same meteorological information previously provided by the mountaincall and mountainfax commercial services is now provided through a public service available free of charge on the Met. Office website. The service is also available through the Met. Office customer centre.

Military Co-operation with France

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the extent is of UK military co-operation with France.

Des Browne: holding answer 4 July 2006
	At the recent UK-France summit on 9 June, the United Kingdom and France re-affirmed their shared commitment to act together against evolving threats and challenges to our security and defence and to that of our allies and partners. An important element of this is the long-standing military co-operation between our armed forces, who currently work together on operations and regular exercises, and in the fields of concepts, doctrine and training. This collaboration is undertaken both bilaterally and through multilateral organisations such as NATO and the EU.
	Our armed forces co-operate on operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Bosnia. Other recent interaction includes:
	Routine integration of Royal Navy and French Navy ships into respective Task Group deployments, most recently in the UK Naval Task Group Deployment AQUILA 2006 and the French Carrier Task Group
	AGAPANTHE 06, which deployed to the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Gulf regions.
	British Army staff officers attached to the French Rapid Reaction Corps Headquarters in Lille where they contribute to French work on achieving NATO Response Force readiness.
	The Royal Air Force and French Air Force combining to provide a Joint Force Air Component Headquarters, and substantial force elements, for NATO Response Forces 5 and 6.
	Agreement to co-operate in establishing a network of Peace Support Training Centres in Africa.
	This close and highly valued military relationship is fostered through regular dialogue at all levels from the Chief of the Defence Staff downwards and underpinned by bilateral agreements and letters of intent. There is also a network of exchange and liaison officers across all three services. The continuation of our excellent military relationship with France will remain important as we work together to tackle the challenges ahead.

Nuclear Deterrent

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he was informed of the proposed content relating to retention of the nuclear deterrent in the long term of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Mansion House speech prior to its delivery.

Des Browne: holding answer 4 July 2006
	I have regular discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a range of issues.

Nuclear Deterrent

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the time scale is for  (a) a national debate,  (b) a White Paper and  (c) a decision to be made for the replacement of the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Des Browne: Decisions on the future of the UK's nuclear deterrent will be taken this year. We expect to publish a White Paper once decisions have been taken and, as the Prime Minister made clear on 28 June 2006,  Official Report, column 253, the means of consultation will be made clear when we publish the White Paper.

Nuclear Deterrent

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what structures exist within the Government to provide a framework for formulation of policy on the future of the UK's nuclear deterrent;
	(2)  what consideration Ministers have given to detailed policy on the future of the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Des Browne: Work is under way by officials in a number of Departments to prepare for decisions on the future of the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent. Ministers have been briefed by officials on some of the relevant issues and have requested that further work be undertaken.
	It remains the case that no decisions have yet been taken, either in principle or in detail although, as the Prime Minister said on 28 June 2006,  Official Report, column 253 decisions will be taken this year.

Nuclear Deterrent

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with Ministers in other Departments about the future of the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Des Browne: I have regular discussions with my Cabinet colleagues and other Ministers on a wide range of issues.

Search and Rescue Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2006,  Official Report, column 2052W, on search and rescue services, what timetable he has set for  (a) the assessment to be completed,  (b) further announcements to be made,  (c) invitations to tender to run the services and  (d) other matters relevant to the future operation of search and rescue services in the UK.

Adam Ingram: The timing for the competition for UK Helicopter Search and Rescue capability is set out in the Official Journal of the European Union Notice (No 2006/S 90-096731) of 12 May 2006. This advises that it is planned to complete the Competitive Dialogue process in mid 2008, at which time the final invitation to tender is planned to be issued. The final assessment of basing solutions and all other relevant matters will be completed after this, with announcements made when the decisions are mature.

Submarines

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many submarines are operationally available to Commander in Chief Fleet, broken down by type.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1262W to the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare (Mr. Penrose) in respect of operational submarines. Two types of submarines make up the Royal Navy Submarine Service. There are 10 Fleet Submarines, of which eight are operational. There are four Ballistic Missile Submarines, of which three are operational. The position remains unchanged.

Tetanus

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what stock of tetanus immunoglobulin is held  (a) centrally,  (b) in Iraq and  (c) in Afghanistan;
	(2)  which naval and military units do not have their required stock of tetanus immunoglobulin.

Tom Watson: The Ministry of Defence's requirement for tetanus immunoglobulin is low. It is only used to treat patients with wounds who have not received the normal tetanus vaccine. Very few such cases arise in our armed forces since MOD aims to ensure that all its personnel have up-to-date tetanus vaccinations prior to deployment. The only people who would need it would therefore be any service personnel who missed their vaccination and any non-UK individuals who are treated in our medical facilities in theatre.
	There is a temporary UK national shortage of tetanus immunoglobulin. We do not currently have any centrally held defence stocks in the UK. However, with the exception of designated field hospitals, units are not required to hold tetanus immunoglobulin, although some do at the discretion of individual medical officers. We are not aware of any stock shortfall of tetanus immunoglobulin in the designated field hospitals and we do not expect a shortfall to arise before supplies become available again.
	Routine tetanus immunisation is given by the combined low dose diphtheria/tetanus/inactivated polio (Td/IPV) triple booster which is administered at trainee entrant establishments. Personnel who require a further booster dose because they have sustained an injury from which they could be at risk of an acute tetanus infection can also be given the Td/IPV triple booster. Supplies of the Td/IPV triple booster are not affected by the national shortage of immunoglobulin, and there are currently no known shortages in naval or military units.
	In light of the national shortage, the MOD has repeated recent Department of Health guidance on tetanus immunoglobulin to defence medical personnel, advising them of the necessary action they will need to take. This will mainly involve ensuring that all personnel have up-to-date tetanus vaccinations.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Chief Crown Prosecutors

Keith Vaz: To ask the Solicitor-General how many chief Crown prosecutors in England and Wales were from black and Asian minorities in each year since 1997.

Mike O'Brien: The number of chief Crown prosecutors in England and Wales who were from black and ethnic minorities, for which data are available, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Month/year  Item  BME  White  Total percentage 
			 April 2002 Number 4 36  
			  Percentage 10.0 90.0 100 
			  
			 April 2003 Number 3 40  
			  Percentage 7.0 93.0 100 
			  
			 April 2004 Number 4 36  
			  Percentage 10.0 90.0 100 
			  
			 April 2005 Number 6 40  
			  Percentage 13.0 87.0 100 
			  
			 April 2006 Number 7 38  
			  Percentage 15.6 84.4 100

Chief Crown Prosecutors

Keith Vaz: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps are being taken by his Department to ensure that the number of chief Crown prosecutors in England and Wales from black and Asian minorities better reflects the ratio in the population.

Mike O'Brien: In common with other Whitehall Departments, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has produced a diversity delivery plan to support the delivery of targets across the senior civil service (which includes the chief Crown prosecutor grade) range of diversity categories by 2008. As at April 2006, the CPS has seven black and minority ethnic (BME) chief Crown prosecutors (of whom two are of Asian origin). This BME total represents 15.6 per cent. of staff at that level within the service.

Identity Theft

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Solicitor-General what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on prosecutions for identity theft.

Mike O'Brien: I have had no recent discussions with the Home Secretary on prosecutions for identity theft, but I have discussed the issue with Home Office Ministers, one of whom wrote to the hon. Member in February 2006 about identity theft.

Iraq

Chris Mullin: To ask the Solicitor-General when he was first informed that "wetting" was official policy for dealing with looters in Basra; what witness statements to this effect were disclosed to Crown counsel; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: I have never been informed that "wetting" is official policy for dealing with looters in Basra. No witness statements saying that "wetting" is official policy for dealing with looters in Basra were disclosed to Crown counsel either prior to the trial of soldiers relating to the death of an Iraqi youth in the Shatt al Basra River or since the conclusion of these proceedings.
	I am told that during the trial three witnesses gave evidence as to a practice of putting detained looters in water which appears to refer to "wetting". Mr. Daniel O'Connell, formerly a Lieutenant Platoon Commander, said there was a practice of making looters wet which was discussed at the company "O" Group meetings; however it was not formal policy. He indicated that he had witnessed one such incident of looters being put into a dyke where they were waist high and in no real danger.
	Major Peter MacMullen the Company Commander said that the looting problem was discussed at Battle group meetings and that he was aware of a range of sanctions that were being deployed, which included people being put into water so that they would be left cold, wet and miserable.
	Mr. Niall Brennan, formerly the Company Second in Command, said he knew of other companies throwing looters into the Shatt al Arab River. He did not consider they were in danger of drowning and claimed that he did not consider this dangerous because it involved the use of minimum force.
	Despite this evidence, coming from higher up the chain of command, the evidence given at trial made it clear that neither the commanders on the ground nor the individual soldiers were aware of such a policy or practice (officially sanctioned or otherwise). Not one of the accused raised this in their witness statements or interviews under caution. None of the members of their platoon or section who gave evidence knew of such a policy or had even heard of looters being put into water. Knowledge of the policy, if one did indeed exist, was restricted to the middle echelons of the chain of command only.
	During the course of the trial a statement was obtained from the then Battle Group Commander, Brigadier Riddle-Webster, who said that the practice of "wetting" had never been discussed and had he heard of such a practice he would have put a stop to it immediately since he regarded it as illegal, dangerous and immoral. However due to legal reasons this was not put before the Board.

Judicial Review

David Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General on what occasions an  (a) individual and  (b) organisation has applied for a judicial review of decisions of his Department in each year since 1997; and what the outcome was of each case where proceedings have been completed.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost,

Private Members' Bills

David Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General which Private Members' Bills were drafted by his Department in each Session since 1997; and which subsequently received Royal Assent.

Mike O'Brien: Members will consider a range of possible subjects before introducing their Private Members' Bills.
	Government draftsmen do draft some Bills in advance which are available as one of the options for Members to consider before they make their selection.
	However, Members may make subsequent amendments or revisions to a Government-drafted Bill, or use it as the basis for a Private Member's Bill in the future.
	The information requested is therefore not collected.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Advertising Campaigns

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what advertising campaigns his Department has run since July 2004; and what the  (a) date and  (b) cost was of each.

Jim Fitzpatrick: For expenditure on advertising campaigns run by the Department through the Central Office of Information from July 2004 until April 2006, the figures are as follows. Figures include Small Business Service, but exclude VAT.
	(The Department does not centrally collect information on other campaigns, including those by non-departmental public bodies, and to do so would entail disproportionate cost.)
	
		
			  2005-06 
			   Amount (£) 
			 Consumer Direct 2005-06 1,277,850 
			 SBS Business Link 2005-06 1,502,301 
			 National Minimum Wage 2005-06 328,603 
			 Directgov—DTI Employee Franchise 2005-06 117,690 
			 Total 3,226,445 
		
	
	
		
			  2004-05 
			   Amount (£) 
			 Consumer Direct 2004-05 706,488 
			 SBS Business Link 2004-05 552,712 
			 Import Licence Announcements 2004-05 74,300 
			 National Minimum Wage 2004-05 315,754 
			 Renewable Energy (Advertorials) 2004-05 15,542 
			 Queen's Awards for Enterprise 2004-05 30,494 
			 Firework Safety 2004-05 188,480 
			 DTI—Dispute Resolution (media only) 81,768 
			 SBS Press Media Buying Costs 2004-05 3,255 
			 Total 1,968,793

Debt Collectors

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether  (a) his Department and  (b) its (i) executive agencies and (ii) non-departmental public bodies use the services of private debt collectors.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department does not make use of private debt collectors. Of the executive agencies, Companies House uses the services of a debt collector in connection with the administration of the penalties raised on companies for late filing of accounts. The Insolvency Service uses agents for the collection of book debts (moneys owed by creditors to bankrupts and companies in liquidation) where the Official Receiver is trustee or liquidator and to collect costs from directors who are disqualified as a result of a court hearing.
	Among the Department's non-departmental public bodies, the use of private debt collectors is limited to a number of the research councils and regional development agencies as follows:
	The Arts and Humanities Research Council has made limited use of an agency to help recover outstanding debts;
	The Medical Research Council has used an agent to trace debtors, conduct correspondence, manage recovery schedules and where necessary prepare cases for County Court recovery;
	Advantage West Midlands has used a firm of solicitors for collecting sales ledger debts over £500;
	The London Development Agency has not had the occasion to employ any debt collectors, but has used firms of certified bailiffs with regard to repossessions, and these firms also provide this form of service. In addition the LDA outsources some of its estate management service to managing agents, and they have used certified bailiffs to recover bad debts;
	The North West Development Agency uses certified bailiffs to recover unpaid rent via management agents.
	The South West Regional Development Agency uses an agency to collect debts from tenants who owe the Agency rent;
	Yorkshire Forward has used agents to collect debts such as non-payment of rent and to pursue small claims.

DNA Sequences

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what regulations are in place to restrict the purchase of sequences of DNA; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what plans he has to review the regulations governing the sale and possession of sequences of DNA that may be used to prepare viruses;
	(3)  what restrictions his Department places on the sale of DNA sequences to private individuals and organisations whose primary purpose is not published research.

Jim Fitzpatrick: There are no specific regulations that govern the sale, supply, or purchase of DNA sequences. The potential chemical hazards associated with the sequence itself would be covered by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended); if DNA sequences were to be used to create a biological agent, the Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 2000 (as amended) are likely to apply. These provide for a high level of protection for human health and the environment (including animal and plant health). In addition, the Specified Animal Pathogens Order 1998 (SAPO), administered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, regulates possession of nucleic acid derived from any animal pathogen specified under SAPO. In all cases the relevant containment and operating requirements laid down by Health and Safety Executive/Defra would need to be met.
	Provisions in the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 place an obligation on managers of laboratories and other premises holding specified pathogens or toxins to notify the authorities and to comply with the security requirements which the police may impose.
	There is a wide range of legitimate uses to which DNA sequences may be put and the imposition of onerous controls could discourage valuable scientific research and industry use. The Government do not believe that it is necessary to require suppliers of DNA sequences to be licensed or for them to screen customers or check the intended use of the sequences. But we will continue to monitor the situation as the relevant technologies develop.

Electoral Roll Fraud

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department has undertaken an assessment of the extent to which  (a) foreign nationals not from the Commonwealth or the Irish Republic,  (b) failed asylum seekers and  (c) illegal immigrants are fraudulently on the electoral roll in order to obtain consumer credit.

Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
	We do not hold information as to the reasons why persons may apply to be on the electoral register other than for the purposes of voting in elections. In respect of the numbers of those persons specified in the question who may be on the electoral register, I explained in my previous answer on 12 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1045W, that this information is not collected. Electoral registers are available for public inspection and anyone who believes that an ineligible person has been included may notify the ERO who may then make further inquiries as to the eligibility of that individual. Currently, it is an offence to fail to supply information to the ERO and knowingly supply false information on the annual canvass form.
	The Electoral Administration Bill strengthens the objection process and creates a new offence of supplying false information of any kind to an ERO, or failing to supply information, in connection with registration, at any time. The electoral register does not specify the immigration or asylum status of individuals entered on it; however, the addition of a "nationality" box in the registration form does provide an opportunity for EROs to determine the eligibility of an applicant for inclusion in the register on the basis of their stated nationality.

Employment Act

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many requests for flexible working have been made in each region since the relevant provisions of the Employment Act 2002 came into force; and how many were granted.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The table shows the proportion of employees who have requested to work flexibly and the resulting acceptance rate, for each region/nation in Great Britain. These figures are from the second Flexible Working Survey (2005).
	The new employment rights introduced on 6 April 2003 gave parents of children under six and disabled children under 18 the right to request flexible working. It is not known how many employees have requested flexible working since the right was introduced. The second Flexible Working Survey was conducted in January 2005 and respondents were asked to consider their last two years of employment.
	
		
			  Employee requests to work flexibly over last two years (percentage) 
			  Nation and region  Employee requests for flexible working  Acceptance (fully and partially) 
			 Great Britain 14 81 
			 England 14 80 
			 North East 13 (1)— 
			 North West 13 88 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 12 69 
			 East Midlands 16 82 
			 West Midlands 10 79 
			 East of England (1)— (1)— 
			 London 15 81 
			 South East 14 82 
			 South West 17 79 
			 Wales 14 (1)— 
			 Scotland 12 87 
			 (1) Reliable figures are not available due to small sample sizes.   Source:  Second Flexible Working Employee Survey 2005

Heavy Vehicle Fitter Apprenticeships

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many heavy vehicle fitter Apprenticeships have been completed in  (a) England and  (b) Merseyside in each of the last five years, broken down by sex.

Phil Hope: I have been asked to reply.
	A key success criterion for Apprenticeships from the outset has been that the programme should be open to all young people regardless of gender, ethnic origin or disability and it should provide equal access particularly to those from potentially socially disadvantaged or marginalised groups. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has worked hard to establish and build on the Apprenticeship Frameworks and procedures required for successful equality. The Apprenticeships Approvals Group (independently chaired by the Skills for Business Network ie Sector Skills Council led) have a key role to play in ensuring that Apprenticeship Frameworks make all reasonable adjustments to maximise participation from diverse groups.
	The LSC maintains a website detailing starts, leavers and completions of individual frameworks http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/partners/frameworks/ apprenticeshipsdata/. However, published figures for completions are not broken down by geographical area or sex. For this reason Mark Haysom, the council's Chief Executive, has written to my hon. Friend with this information and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Rob Wye, dated 28 June 2006:
	I am responding on behalf of Mark Haysom, due to him currently being on annual leave, to your Parliamentary Question that asked the number of completed Heavy Vehicle Fitter Apprenticeships in England and Greater Merseyside, broken down by gender in each of the last 5 years.
	The Vehicle Fitting Apprenticeship framework was implemented on 1st September 2005. This is in effect its first year for apprentices to enrol onto and as yet there is no usable framework completion data at any geographical level.
	Prior to 1st September 2005 there were more generic Apprenticeship frameworks in operation for the Retail Motor Industry. An analysis of these framework completions where the NVQ within the framework is for "Vehicle Fitting" shows the following results,
	
		
			  Table 1: Automotive Industry Frameworks completed with a Vehicle Fitting NVQ as the main aim( 1) 
			   Female  Male 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			  Greater Merseyside 
			 2002/03 0 0 10 100 
			 2003/04 0 0 10 100 
			 2004/05 0 0 30 100 
			  
			  England 
			 2002/03 0 2 60 98 
			 2003/04 0 1 120 99 
			 2004/05 0 0 240 99 
			 (1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 for reasons of disclosure   Source:  LSC WBLILR. 
		
	
	Specific information regarding heavy vehicle fitting is not available at framework level or at NVQ qualification level, hence this response can only look at vehicle fitting in general.
	The Learning and Skills Council publishes regular statistical information on Apprenticeships including framework completion data on its website (www.apprenticeships.org.uk). The information is provided for each Apprenticeship framework and as such the volume of completers nationally will be provided in future updates.
	Consistent and high quality data is only available from the first full academic year following the commencement of the Learning and Skills Council in April 2001. For this reason the table above only shows information for the past three full academic years.
	I trust this provides the information you require.
	
		
			  LSC-funded adults in FE in 2005/06 with level 2 entitlement 
			  Ethnicity  Participation  Percentage of total participation 
			 Asian or Asian British 1,900 7 
			 Black or Black British 2,400 8 
			 Chinese 100 0 
			 Mixed 700 2 
			 White 22,100 78 
			 Any other 550 2 
			 Not known/not provided 650 2 
			 Total 28,400 100 
			  Source:  F01 2005/06 ILR Results are rounded to the nearest 50 volumes <10 are suppressed 
		
	
	
		
			  LSC-funded adults in FE in 2005/06 with level 2 entitlement 
			  Gender  Participation  Percentage of total participation 
			 Female 16,350 58 
			 Male 12,050 42 
			 Total 28,400 100 
			  Source: F01 2005/06 ILR Results are rounded to the nearest 50 Volumes <10 are suppressed 
		
	
	
		
			  LSC-funded adults in FE in 2005/06 with level 2 entitlement 
			  Disability  Participation  Percentage of total participation 
			 Visual impairment 50 0 
			 Hearing impairment 150 1 
			 Disability affecting mobility 100 0 
			 Other physical disability 50 0 
			 Other medical condition (for example epilepsy, asthma, diabetes) 350 1 
			 Emotional/behavioural difficulties 50 0 
			 Mental ill health 150 1 
			 Temporary disability after illness (for example post-viral) — 0 
			 Profound complex disabilities — 0 
			 Multiple disabilities 100 0 
			 Other 250 1 
			 No disability 24,400 86 
			 Not known/information not provided 2,750 10 
			 Total 28,400 100 
			  Source:  F01 2005/06 ILR Results are rounded to the nearest 50 Volumes <10 are suppressed

Milk Co-operatives

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will reform current arrangements for the development of vertical cooperatives in the milk industry.

Barry Gardiner: I have been asked to reply.
	Mergers, acquisitions and other competition matters are the responsibility of the competition authorities. These bodies are independent and the Government have no role in the administration of competition law, except in very restricted circumstances.

Ministerial Flights

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to ensure that all flights undertaken by Ministers and officials in his Department are carbon neutral; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: DTI ensures that all flights undertaken by its Ministers and officials are carbon neutral by participating in the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund.

Post Office Card Account

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the major banks which contributed to the cost of the launch of the Post Office card account regarding its termination.

Jim Fitzpatrick: There have been no discussions on this issue between the Department and those banks that contributed to the establishment of the Post Office card account. The Post Office card account contract between the Department of Work and Pensions and Post Office Ltd will end in 2010 as always intended.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Advertising Campaigns

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advertising campaigns his Department has run since July 2004; and what the  (a) date and  (b) cost was of each.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department's records are retained on a financial year basis, and it is only possible to provide annual information on advertising campaigns from April 2004 to present. The following tables show advertising campaign expenditure broken down by year and title:
	
		
			  2004-05 
			  Advertising campaign title  £000 
			 Education Maintenance Allowance 4,511 
			 DfES Supermarket Sweep 502 
			 Sure Start 133 
			 Adult Basic Skills—Gremlins 5,875 
			 Teenage Pregnancy 1,087 
			 Student Finance 1,224 
			 Fast Track Teaching 73 
			 Foundation Degrees 556 
			 DfES Childcare 295 
			 Need to Know 400 
			 DfES Parents Centre 182 
			 Total 14,838 
		
	
	
		
			  2005-06 
			  Advertising campaign title  £000 
			 Sure Start 3 
			 Education Maintenance Allowance 1,499 
			 Teenage Pregnancy 1,497 
			 Childcare Recruitment 661 
			 Adult Basic Skills - Gremlins 1,818 
			 Student finance 3,271 
			 DfES Parents Centre 149 
			 Every Child Matters 2 
			 Parenting Pilot 637 
			 Foundation Degrees 869 
			 Fast Track Teaching 19 
			 DfES Education and Learning Launch 204 
			 Need to Know 118 
			 Total 10,747 
		
	
	All figures in the tables are exclusive of VAT. We would only be able to break down information from July 2004 at disproportionate cost.

Bullying

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many incidents of homophobic bullying were recorded by  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: We are unable to provide this information as we do not collect these data centrally. However, individual schools may record incidents of bullying, including homophobic bullying, and some local authorities keep records for their own area.
	We take the issue of homophobic bullying in schools very seriously and we gave an undertaking in the White Paper, "Higher Standards, Better Education for All" to issue guidance on bullying motivated by prejudice, including homophobia.
	During Anti Bullying week in 2004 we published "Homophobia, Sexual Orientation and Schools: a review and implications for action", by the Thomas Coram Research Unit, which looked at three areas: behaviour and bullying; teaching and learning about sexual orientation and relationships; and employment issues. It collates, summarises and assesses both peer reviewed research material, from this country and abroad, and less formal work conducted by bodies active in this area. It reports the views of a wide range of organisations, 28 in all, with an interest in this area to paint a picture of how the issues are currently perceived. The report is available on the DfES website http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research and the findings will be used to inform future work in this area.

Children's Centres

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children's centres there are in each local authority area in England.

Beverley Hughes: The number of Sure Start Children's Centres in each local authority area is listed in the following table:
	
		
			  Region  Local authority  Number of centres  designated as at 30 June 2006 
			 East of England Bedfordshire 7 
			 East of England Cambridgeshire 3 
			 East of England Essex 9 
			 East of England Hertfordshire 6 
			 East of England Luton 9 
			 East of England Norfolk 11 
			 East of England Peterborough 5 
			 East of England Southend on Sea 3 
			 East of England Suffolk 6 
			 East of England Thurrock 3 
			 East Midlands Derby 4 
			 East Midlands Derbyshire 10 
			 East Midlands Leicester 9 
			 East Midlands Leicestershire 3 
			 East Midlands Lincolnshire 10 
			 East Midlands Northamptonshire 3 
			 East Midlands Nottingham City 3 
			 East Midlands Nottinghamshire 16 
			 East Midlands Rutland — 
			 London Barking and Dagenham 5 
			 London Barnet 1 
			 London Bexley 4 
			 London Brent 4 
			 London Bromley 1 
			 London Camden 9 
			 London Croydon 3 
			 London Ealing 10 
			 London Enfield 3 
			 London Greenwich 9 
			 London Hackney 5 
			 London Hammersmith and Fulham 5 
			 London Haringey 10 
			 London Harrow 1 
			 London Havering — 
			 London Hillingdon 1 
			 London Hounslow 3 
			 London Islington 9 
			 London Kensington and Chelsea 4 
			 London Kingston upon Thames — 
			 London Lambeth 10 
			 London Lewisham 3 
			 London Merton 1 
			 London Newham 5 
			 London Redbridge 4 
			 London Richmond Upon Thames — 
			 London Southwark 9 
			 London Sutton 1 
			 London Tower Hamlets 9 
			 London Waltham Forest 5 
			 London Wandsworth 3 
			 London Westminster 5 
			 North East Darlington 4 
			 North East Durham 16 
			 North East Gateshead 10 
			 North East Hartlepool 5 
			 North East Middlesbrough 8 
			 North East Newcastle upon Tyne 10 
			 North East North Tyneside 5 
			 North East Northumberland 9 
			 North East Redcar and Cleveland 6 
			 North East South Tyneside 7 
			 North East Stockton-on-Tees 4 
			 North East Sunderland 11 
			 North West Blackburn with Darwen 9 
			 North West Blackpool 6 
			 North West Bolton 5 
			 North West Bury 2 
			 North West Cheshire 5 
			 North West Cumbria 16 
			 North West Halton 5 
			 North West Knowsley 7 
			 North West Lancashire 30 
			 North West Liverpool 11 
			 North West Manchester 18 
			 North West Oldham 1 
			 North West Rochdale 3 
			 North West Salford 5 
			 North West Sefton 4 
			 North West St. Helens 5 
			 North West Stockport 1 
			 North West Tameside 4 
			 North West Trafford 2 
			 North West Warrington 3 
			 North West Wigan 4 
			 North West Wirral 5 
			 South East Bracknell Forest — 
			 South East Brighton and Hove 4 
			 South East Buckinghamshire 1 
			 South East East Sussex 6 
			 South East Hampshire 7 
			 South East Isle of Wight 5 
			 South East Kent 13 
			 South East Medway 4 
			 South East Milton Keynes 2 
			 South East Oxfordshire 4 
			 South East Portsmouth 6 
			 South East Reading 3 
			 South East Slough 3 
			 South East Southampton 4 
			 South East Surrey 3 
			 South East West Berkshire — 
			 South East West Sussex 6 
			 South East Windsor and Maidenhead — 
			 South East Wokingham — 
			 South West Bath and North East Somerset 1 
			 South West Bournemouth 2 
			 South West Bristol, City of 9 
			 South West Cornwall 20 
			 South West Devon 6 
			 South West Dorset 4 
			 South West Gloucestershire 8 
			 South West North Somerset 1 
			 South West Plymouth 8 
			 South West Poole — 
			 South West Somerset 14 
			 South West South Gloucestershire — 
			 South West Swindon 3 
			 South West Torbay 2 
			 South West Wiltshire — 
			 West Midlands Birmingham 18 
			 West Midlands Coventry 8 
			 West Midlands Dudley 4 
			 West Midlands Herefordshire 4 
			 West Midlands Sandwell 7 
			 West Midlands Shropshire 2 
			 West Midlands Solihull 3 
			 West Midlands Staffordshire 5 
			 West Midlands Stoke-on-Trent 8 
			 West Midlands Telford and Wrekin 6 
			 West Midlands Walsall 6 
			 West Midlands Warwickshire 9 
			 West Midlands Wolverhampton 8 
			 West Midlands Worcestershire 9 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Barnsley 13 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Bradford 7 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Calderdale 4 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Doncaster 14 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside East Riding of Yorkshire 4 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Kingston upon Hull, City of 8 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Kirklees 6 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Leeds 21 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside North East Lincolnshire 4 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside North Lincolnshire 6 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside North Yorkshire 4 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Rotherham 7 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Sheffield 11 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside Wakefield 4 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside York — 
			 Total  867

Consultants

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consultants are employed by his Department to work on  (a) policy development and  (b) cost control; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Emissions

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the total carbon emission of his Department in each year since 1997.

Parmjit Dhanda: A complete answer cannot be provided as validated carbon emission information is only available from 1999. The figures presented in the following table are based on kilograms of carbon emitted per square metre of let table area in our HQ buildings.
	
		
			 ( 1) kgC/m( 2) 
			 1990-2000 28 
			 2000-01 30 
			 2001-02 29 
			 2002-03 28 
			 2003-04 32 
			 2004-05 31 
			 (1 )These figures exclude carbon emissions from road vehicles used for Government administrative operations as this information is not held

Departmental Fax Machines

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many department-owned fax machines have been issued to his staff in the last 12 months; to whom they were issued; and at what cost.

Parmjit Dhanda: A complete answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost, but we do know that 11 fax machines were purchased at a cost of £4,137.17 in the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006.

Departmental Finance Directors

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the  (a) name,  (b) professional and academic qualifications and  (c) relevant experience are of the finance director of his Department.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Director General of Finance of the Department for Education and Skills is Jonathan Thompson.
	He is a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), a member of the CIPFA Council and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management.
	He was appointed in May 2006. He was previously Director of Finance of Ofsted, and before that Director of Finance and Resources at North Somerset council. Prior to that he was senior public sector services manager with Ernst and Young.

Departmental Guidance

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pages of guidance have been issued by his Department in the last 12 months.

Jim Knight: The Department only sends hard copy publications automatically to schools in England in exceptional cases having stopped regular paper mailings in December 2004. Most recently a letter regarding the Ofsted report on staff recruitment checks was made available online and schools notified electronically by email.
	Discussions with head teachers and detailed research showed that schools wanted to be able to choose the printed publications they needed, when they needed them, and to be able to order multiple copies.
	The online ordering system enables schools to choose whether to download electronic copies or order the paper based publications they need at the right time for them and in the multiples they require. This system is linked directly to the fulfilment service and an existing telephone ordering line. A fortnightly email service to schools informs them of new and important publications.
	This has resulted in schools being able to order a wider variety of publications from the Department, putting schools in direct control of what they receive, when they receive it.

Departmental Publications

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make it his policy to make copies of deposited papers available in the  (a) Vote Office and  (b) Printed Paper Office at the same time as copies are deposited in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal on 3 July 2006,  Official Report, column 729W.

Departmental Publications

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the deposited papers placed in the Library by his Department since 2000; and when they were published.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested is not collected.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff in his Department did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report in each of the last three years; and what percentage this represented of the total number of staff in each case.

Parmjit Dhanda: Annual reports for the last performance year (2005-06) are currently being collated. In the previous year, there were less than five cases of unacceptable performance and this information is therefore suppressed on grounds of confidentiality. In the 2003-04 performance year, five staff failed to achieve an acceptable mark, which represents 0.1 per cent. of all staff at that time.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many of his staff are  (a) under and  (b) over 55 years of age.

Parmjit Dhanda: A total of 3,350 staff are under 55 years of age, and 418 are aged 55 years and over.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people over the age of 55 years have been recruited into his Department in each of the last three years.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Recruits into DfES over the age of 55 
			   Number 
			 2004 1 
			 2005 6 
			 2006 (to date) 2

EU Integration

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make it his policy to remove from all EU legislation which he is responsible for transposing into UK law any references supporting EU integration.

Parmjit Dhanda: I have no plans to do so. In cases when EU legislation is proposed which would need to be transposed into UK each proposal will be considered on its individual merits. However, EU competence in education and training is limited to supporting and supplementing the actions of member states, and fully respects the responsibility of member states for the content and organisation of education and training. There is therefore not a great deal of EU legislation in the education and vocational training field to be transposed into domestic legislation. In the majority of cases the Department for Education and Skills responds to EU decisions, recommendations and communications through the development of policy rather than legislative changes.

Judicial Review

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on what occasions an  (a) individual and  (b) organisation has applied for a judicial review of decisions of his Department in each year since 1997; and what the outcome was of each case where proceedings have been completed.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Post Office

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for which services  (a) his Department and  (b) its associated public bodies hold contracts with the Post Office; and what the (i) start and (ii) termination date is of each contract.

Parmjit Dhanda: A definitive answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Post Office

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what services  (a) his Department and  (b) its associated public bodies (i) make available and (ii) have made available in the last five years through the Post Office network; through how many outlets the service is or was made available; and how many relevant transactions were undertaken in each case in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Parmjit Dhanda: A definitive answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Primary Schools

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the most recent average cost per annum was of educating a child at primary school in England;
	(2)  what the most recent average cost per annum was of educating a child at primary school in each local education authority area in England;
	(3)  what the most recent figures are for the average cost per annum of educating a child at primary school in  (a) rural and village areas and  (b) town and city areas in England.

Jim Knight: The available information is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Primary school based expenditure( 1)  per pupil( 2) 
			   £ 
			  In England during the 2004-05 financial year  
			 £ per pupil(3) 2,910 
			   
			  In 2004-05 financial year  
			 Barking and Dagenham 3,150 
			 Barnet 3,280 
			 Barnsley 2,910 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 2,850 
			 Bedfordshire 2,830 
			 Bexley 2,810 
			 Birmingham 3,200 
			 Blackburn and Darwen 2,910 
			 Blackpool 2,880 
			 Bolton 2,760 
			 Bournemouth 2,670 
			 Bracknell Forest 2,730 
			 Bradford 3,070 
			 Brent 3,230 
			 Brighton and Hove 2,820 
			 Bromley 2,690 
			 Buckinghamshire 2,740 
			 Bury 2,660 
			 Calderdale 2,940 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,720 
			 Camden 4,120 
			 Cheshire 2,640 
			 City of Bristol 2,860 
			 City of Kingston-Upon-Hull 2,990 
			 City of London 4,990 
			 Cornwall 2,810 
			 Coventry 3,010 
			 Croydon 3,060 
			 Cumbria 2,870 
			 Darlington 2,710 
			 Derby 2,940 
			 Derbyshire 2,630 
			 Devon 2,790 
			 Doncaster 2,860 
			 Dorset 2,790 
			 Dudley 2,760 
			 Durham 3,000 
			 Ealing 3,330 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 2,760 
			 East Sussex 2,830 
			 Enfield 3,270 
			 Essex 2,900 
			 Gateshead 2,850 
			 Gloucestershire 2,720 
			 Greenwich 3,530 
			 Hackney 4,010 
			 Halton 2,910 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 3,800 
			 Hampshire 2,850 
			 Haringey 3,590 
			 Harrow 3,100 
			 Hartlepool 2,840 
			 Havering 2,920 
			 Herefordshire 2,780 
			 Hertfordshire 2,780 
			 Hillingdon 2,920 
			 Hounslow 3,160 
			 Isle of Wight 3,000 
			 Isles of Scilly 7,280 
			 Islington 3,760 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 4,160 
			 Kent 2,770 
			 Kingston upon Thames 3,110 
			 Kirklees 3,060 
			 Knowsley 3,010 
			 Lambeth 4,110 
			 Lancashire 2,900 
			 Leeds 3,010 
			 Leicester 2,990 
			 Leicestershire 2,580 
			 Lewisham 3,800 
			 Lincolnshire 2,600 
			 Liverpool 3,100 
			 Luton 3,100 
			 Manchester 3,030 
			 Medway 3,050 
			 Merton 3,200 
			 Middlesbrough 2,980 
			 Milton Keynes 2,760 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 2,840 
			 Newham 3,630 
			 Norfolk 2,770 
			 North East Lincolnshire 2,920 
			 North Lincolnshire 2,840 
			 North Somerset 2,650 
			 North Tyneside 2,760 
			 North Yorkshire 2,890 
			 Northamptonshire 2,720 
			 Northumberland 2,940 
			 Nottingham City 3,410 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,900 
			 Oldham 2,740 
			 Oxfordshire 2,790 
			 Peterborough 2,890 
			 Plymouth 2,800 
			 Poole 2,620 
			 Portsmouth 3,070 
			 Reading 2,720 
			 Redbridge 2,830 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 2.940 
			 Richmond upon Thames 3,030 
			 Rochdale 2,910 
			 Rotherham 2,820 
			 Rutland 2,950 
			 Salford 2,920 
			 Sandwell 3,010 
			 Sefton 2,980 
			 Sheffield 2,780 
			 Shropshire 2,600 
			 Slough 2,990 
			 Solihull 2,580 
			 Somerset 2,810 
			 South Gloucestershire 2,610 
			 South Tyneside 2,970 
			 Southampton 3,170 
			 Southend 2,860 
			 Southwark 3,970 
			 St. Helens 2,790 
			 Staffordshire 2,620 
			 Stockport 2,720 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 2,810 
			 Stoke on Trent 2,730 
			 Suffolk 2,920 
			 Sunderland 2,840 
			 Surrey 2,790 
			 Sutton 2,870 
			 Swindon 2,630 
			 Tameside 2,750 
			 Telford and Wrekin 2.660 
			 Thurrock 2,940 
			 Torbay 2,730 
			 Tower Hamlets 4,300 
			 Trafford 2,500 
			 Wakefield 2,810 
			 Walsall 2,770 
			 Waltham Forest 3,390 
			 Wandsworth 3,630 
			 Warrington 2,630 
			 Warwickshire 2,670 
			 West Berkshire 2,840 
			 West Sussex 2,780 
			 Westminster 3,800 
			 Wigan 2,780 
			 Wiltshire 2,670 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 2,870 
			 Wirral 2,730 
			 Wokingham 2,650 
			 Wolverhampton 2,810 
			 Worcestershire 2,740 
			 York 2,680 
			   
			  In urban and rural schools( 3)  in England during the2004-05 financial year  
			 Urban primary schools(4, 5) 2,920 
			 Rural primary schools(4, 5) 2,900 
			 (1) School based expenditure includes only expenditure incurred directly by local authority schools. This includes the pay of teachers and school-based support staff, school premises costs, books and equipment, and certain other supplies and services, less any capital items funded from recurrent spending and income from sales, fees and charges and rents and rates. This excludes the central cost of support services such as home to school transport, local authority administration and the financing of capital expenditure. This is drawn from the 2004-05 Section 52 Outturn Statement (Table A line 50). (2) Pupil numbers include only those pupils attending local authority maintained primary schools and are drawn from the DfES Annual Schools Census adjusted to be on a financial year basis. (3) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Cash terms figures as reported by local authorities as at 30 June 2006. (4) The urban/rural classification is drawn from the Edubase (the DfES database of educational establishments). As at 30th June 2006, the database did not hold an urban/rural classification for 32 of the 17,864 primary schools included on local authorities' 2004-05 Section 52 Outturn Statements. (5) Rural primary schools are on average much smaller than those in urban areas. Funding to offset diseconomies of scale therefore increases the amount spent in rural primary schools to a level very close to urban schools.

School Buses

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will set an upper limit on charges local education authorities are permitted to make for school bus journeys under the school transport section of the Education and Inspections Bill.

Jim Knight: The Education and Inspections Bill includes provisions that will allow a small number of 'Pathfinder' authorities to pilot innovative school travel arrangements. While it will be up to local authorities themselves to draw up a charging policy, the draft guidance to potential 'Pathfinder' authorities, which has been published on the Department's website, suggests a maximum charge of £1 per day.

School Principals

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average salary was of  (a) head and  (b) deputy head teachers in (i) England and (ii) each region in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Knight: The following table provides the average salary of full-time regular head and deputy head teachers in maintained sector schools in England and by Government office region. The average salaries are given for March each year from 1996 to 2003, the latest year for which the information is available.
	
		
			  Average salary of full-time regular head and deputy head teachers in maintained sector schools in England by Government office region, March 1996 to 2003 
			  £ 
			   1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001( 1)  2002( 1)  2003( 1) 
			  England 
			 Head 31,040 32,370 33,530 35,020 37,710 40,010 42,380 44,960 
			 Deputy head 27,540 28,640 29,640 30,890 32,160 34,810 36,800 38,950 
			  
			  North East 
			 Head 30,080 31,240 32,270 34,040 36,520 38,950 41,250 43,790 
			 Deputy head 26,640 27,570 28,450 29,800 30,970 33,880 35,630 37,780 
			  
			  North West 
			 Head 30,250 31,450 32,570 33,850 36,820 39,410 41,640 44,190 
			 Deputy head 26,940 27,980 28,900 30,110 31,370 34,120 36,100 38,100 
			  
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 
			 Head 30,020 31,190 32,290 33,500 36,650 39,130 41,490 44,180 
			 Deputy head 26,680 27,740 28,690 29,870 31,130 34,120 35,980 38,170 
			  
			  East Midlands 
			 Head 30,470 31,680 32,730 34,080 36,670 38,510 40,810 43,400 
			 Deputy head 27,220 28,200 29,300 30,390 31,650 34,400 36,130 38,120 
			  
			  West Midlands 
			 Head 30,950 32,320 33,370 34,930 37,390 40,000 42,060 44,860 
			 Deputy head 27,260 28,330 29,290 30,550 31,790 34,490 36,240 38,440 
			  
			  East of England 
			 Head 30,910 32,290 33,360 34,720 37,370 39,460 41,880 44,440 
			 Deputy head 27,370 28,500 29,530 30,640 31,960 34,360 36,340 38,680 
			  
			  London 
			 Head 34,910 36,630 38,300 40,170 42,790 45,800 49,010 52,240 
			 Deputy head 30,230 31,400 32,560 33,980 35,390 38,160 40,780 43,300 
			  
			  South East 
			 Head 31,610 33,070 34,290 35,810 38,350 40,530 42,750 45,390 
			 Deputy head 27,700 28,840 29,830 31,070 32,370 34,800 36,560 38,770 
			  
			  South West 
			 Head 29,830 31,070 32,190 33,570 36,210 38,380 40,390 42,720 
			 Deputy head 27,020 28,210 29,130 30,450 31,640 34,100 35,910 37,960 
			 (1) Provisional estimates subject to future revision.  Source: Database of Teacher Records (DTR).

Sexual Health Education

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what expenditure is planned for sexual health education in schools in each of the next three years.

Parmjit Dhanda: It is for local authorities and schools to decide the level of resources required to support sexual health education in schools taking account of local needs. We are working to improve the quality of sexual health education in maintained schools. The Department for Education and Skills, together with Department of Health, is supporting the PSHE certification programme for teachers with over £2 million in 2006-07. In addition, both Departments are supporting the national healthy schools programme with £12.3 million of funding in 2006-07. These programmes support schools in delivering sexual health education as part of broader programmes.

Special Educational Needs

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much of the recent increase in local authority spending on special educational needs provision is being used to pay for out-of-authority placements for pupils because of the lack of suitable provision locally.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information is not available in the requested format. The following table shows how much of the total planned net expenditure on the provision of education for children with special educational needs, local authorities have budgeted for fees for pupils at independent special schools and abroad.
	
		
			  The Education (Budget Statements) (England) Regulations. Budgeted net expenditure on the provision of education for children with special educational needs( 1,2,3 ) since 2000-01. Cash terms figures( 4)  as reported by local authorities( 5)  as at 28 June 2006 
			  £ 
			   Budgeted net expenditure on the provision of education for children with special educational needs( 1,2)  Of which: Budgeted net expenditure on fees for pupils at independent special schools and abroad( 3) 
			 2000-01 2,763,226,000 287,821,000 
			 2001-02 2,908,380,000 305,782,000 
			 2002-03 3,038,661,000 309,646,000 
			 2003-04 3,466,180,000 394,609,000 
			 2004-05 3,774,757,000 441,977,000 
			 2005-06 4,120,549,000 481,127,000 
			 2006-07(5) 4,466,690,000 507,133,000 
			 (1) Includes planned expenditure on the provision for pupils with statements and the provision for non-statemented pupils with SEN, support for inclusion, inter authority recoupment, fees for pupils at independent special schools and abroad, educational psychology service, local authority functions in relation to child protection, therapies and other health related services, parent partnership, guidance and information, the monitoring of SEN provision and inclusion administration, assessment and coordination. Also included is the funding delegated to nursery, primary and secondary schools identified as "notional SEN" and the individual schools budget (ISB) for special schools. Does not include any contribution to combined budgets or fees for pupils at independent schools for pupils without SEN. (2) The ISB for special schools will include some general education costs for pupils with SEN in addition to those costs specifically for SEN while the figures recorded against "notional SEN" are only indicative of the amount that might by spent by schools on SEN. From 2004-05 onwards "notional SEN" delegated to nursery schools was reported on section 52 for the first time and accounts for £7.8 million, £9.5 million and £10.2 million of the 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 totals respectively. (3) Includes all planned net expenditure on the payment of fees in respect of pupils with special educational needs at independent schools or non-maintained special schools. (4) Figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000. (5) 2006-07 data are provisional and are therefore subject to change by the local authority.  Source: The data are drawn from local authorities Section 52 Budget Statements (Tables 1 and 2) submitted to the DfES.

Speech and Language Therapy

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the ratio is of full-time speech therapists to pupils at schools which provide speech and language therapy;
	(2)  what the average expenditure per pupil on children with speech and language difficulties in the teaching of speech and language therapy was in the last period for which figures are available.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Teachers' Pension Scheme

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures the Department has put in place to assist pension transferability of public pensions for members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme.

Parmjit Dhanda: All public service schemes pay cash equivalent transfer values to other pension schemes in respect of accrued rights in compliance with pensions law. Under the Fair Deal for Staff Pensions there is a requirement to transfer pension rights when employments are transferred to the private sector under Public Private Partnerships/Public Finance Initiatives and subsequent transfers for former public servants. Public service scheme members can also transfer accrued pension rights by way of the Public Sector Transfer Club. The Club is a network of public and private sector occupational pension schemes which makes it easier for employees who move between employers covered by separate participating schemes to transfer their accrued pension rights.

Unemployment (Yeovil)

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department plans to take to encourage long-term unemployed people in Yeovil constituency to return to education and training.

Phil Hope: Responsibility for encouraging long-term unemployed people to return to education and training is shared between the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Secretary of State for Education and Skills.
	Both Departments, along with their respective delivery agencies Jobcentre Plus (JCP) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), are working closely together to ensure that long-term unemployed people have the skills they need to secure sustainable and productive jobs. There has already been significant progress in joint working between the LSC and JCP and a joint delivery plan is currently being developed which will cover the Yeovil area in order to meet local employment and skills needs.
	The Government's skills strategy sends out a strong signal about the priority we attach to helping adults with few or no qualifications to attain a platform of wider employability skills. All those on jobseeker's allowance or income related benefits and their dependents receive free tuition in further education, in addition to the support available through their local JCP office. Unemployed people also have access to in-depth advice about their education and training options through the Learndirect one-stop telephone and online advice service.
	The Government do, however, recognise that more needs to be done to tackle long-term unemployment and published a Green Paper in January 2006 "A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work" including measures to help low skilled adults secure employment through the New Deal for Skills. These include piloting skills coaching in a number of JCP districts and our latest evidence shows that skills coaching is helping long-term unemployed people improve their employability skills.
	In addition, the Chancellor announced in his Budget Report that Lord Leitch's review of skills would be extended to include better alignment of measures to tackle worklessness to support labour market flexibility, better employment outcomes and greater progression to productive and sustainable jobs for those with skill needs. We expect Lord Leitch's report this autumn and my Department looks forward to working with the Department of Work and Pensions to take forward Lord Leitch's proposals.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Biodiversity

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will estimate the loss of species in the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: Extinction of a species within the UK is now a rare event. The UK Biodiversity Action Plan was published in 1995 and included a list of priority species and habitats for which urgent conservation action was required.
	In 1999, 2002 and 2005 reports were published on the progress made on these priorities. These reports included actions to be taken and an update on the status of the priority species. In 2002, one species, the Starry Breck Lichen (Buellia asterella), was reported as having become extinct, and two UKBAP priority species, the pool frog and interrupted brome, were reported to have been lost. Both the pool frog and interrupted brome have since been re-introduced. Although both re-introduction projects are at an early stage and there is some way to go before the species are successfully re-established, effectively their extinction has been reversed.
	This is the only evidence we have of a UK species becoming extinct within the last 10 years. It is also worth noting that the Pashford pot beetle (Cryptocephalus exiguus), another priority species, has not been found at its known localities for a number of years but this is not thought to represent sufficient evidence of extinction yet.
	In terms of non-priority species, we cannot be certain that there have been no extinctions because some species have never been named and others are recorded extremely infrequently.

Biodiversity

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department has benchmarked the loss of species in the UK in each of the last 10 years against the performance of other countries.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA has not benchmarked the loss of species because there is no easily accessible source of information on extinctions for other countries. The cost of obtaining the information would far outweigh the benefits we could gain from it.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many instances of bovine tuberculosis have been recorded in Suffolk in each of the last five years.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Suffolk 
			   Total new herd incidents  Confirmed new herd incidents 
			 2005 — — 
			 2004 3 1 
			 2003 — — 
			 2002 1 — 
			 2001 — — 
			  Note: Provisional data downloaded from DEFRA's animal health database (Vetnet) on 7 March 2006. Subject to change as more data becomes available . 
		
	
	In 2001, the TB testing and control programme was largely suspended due to the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. When testing resumed in 2002, resources were concentrated on herds with overdue TB tests which would have had a longer period in which to contract the disease. Also the proportion of high risk herds tested immediately after the FMD outbreak was greater than that prior to the outbreak. As a result, data for 2001 and 2002 are not comparable with other years.

Conservation

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice his Department gives to competent authorities intending to carry out appropriate assessment of plans or projects likely to affect European wildlife sites with regard to consulting  (a) statutory bodies,  (b) other interested parties and  (c) the general public; and whether this advice differs according to whether this assessment is carried out under regulation 3 or regulation 48 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994 (as amended).

Barry Gardiner: English Nature provides advice to competent authorities intending to carry out appropriate assessment of plans or projects likely to affect European wildlife sites, with regard to consulting statutory bodies and the general public. This is done through their Habitats Regulations Guidance Note 1 ("The Role of the Appropriate Assessment in Regulation 48 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994"). This guidance relates to assessment being carried out under regulation 48 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994. The Guidance Note does not provide specific advice for consulting other interested parties, though it does advise that consulting the general public,
	"may include taking the opinion of others with relevant knowledge or expertise".
	This advice in relation to consulting statutory bodies, other interested parties and the general public does not specifically relate to the obligations placed upon competent authorities under regulation 3 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994 (as amended).
	My Department is currently considering what further guidance is necessary in relation to obligations placed upon competent authorities regarding appropriate assessment of plans and projects. These considerations will be informed by the results of the public consultation on Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 due to end on 30 June 2006.

Conservation

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how competent authorities are required to report the results of appropriate assessment of plans or projects under the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994 (as amended) to  (a) the UK Government,  (b) the European Commission and  (c) the Scottish Executive; and whether the appropriate assessments are public documents.

Barry Gardiner: There is no requirement in the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994 for competent authorities to report the results of appropriate assessment carried out under regulation 48 of these Regulations to (a), (b) or (c) if the authority concludes the plan or project will not adversely affect the integrity of a European site.
	Where a competent authority other than the Secretary of State proposes to agree to a plan or project under regulation 49 (that is where a plan or project is considered necessary in the overriding public interest), notwithstanding a negative assessment of the implications for a European site, it must notify the Secretary of State in England. There is no requirement under the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994 to report the outcome of the appropriate assessment in these circumstances to the European Commission. As a matter of policy however, the Secretary of State reports the outcome of such assessments in the above circumstances to the European Commission, including details of how appropriate compensatory measures have been secured. Equivalent provisions exist in Scotland. Appropriate assessments carried out under the planning regime would normally constitute public documents.
	Appropriate assessments carried out under other consent regimes would normally, where not already in the public domain, be available under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Conservation

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answers of 30 March 2006,  Official Report, column 1098W, on the EU Habitats Directive, whether competent authorities proposing to agree a plan or project of a type not specified by Regulations 54 to 85 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994 (as amended) notwithstanding a negative assessment of the implications for a European site are required  (a) to notify the Secretary of State and  (b) not to agree to the plan or project for a period of 21 days unless the Secretary of State notifies them that they may do so.

Barry Gardiner: Competent authorities proposing to agree to a plan or project not specified by Regulations 54 to 85 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994, notwithstanding a negative assessment of the implications for a European site, are (a) not required to notify the Secretary of State and (b) not required to agree to the plan or project for a period of 21 days unless the Secretary of State notifies them that they may do so.

Correspondence Costs

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average cost to his Department was of replying to a letter written  (a) by an hon. Member and  (b) by a member of the public in the latest period for which figures are available; and how much of that sum is accounted for by (i) officials' time, (ii) cost of stationery and (iii) postage costs.

Barry Gardiner: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members'/Peers' correspondence. The Report for 2005 was published on 30 March 2006,  Official Report, columns 76-78WS.
	The information requested is not recorded and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Dairy Industry

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the dairy supply chain forum.

Barry Gardiner: The dairy supply chain forum, now chaired by my noble Friend Lord Rooker, meets on a quarterly basis. Recent discussions have covered: the environmental challenges facing the dairy sector; barriers to innovation; the National Farmers' Union's paper, "A Vision for the Dairy Industry"; the Milk Development Council's paper, "Raw milk contracts and relationships—the need for change"; and animal health and welfare initiatives.
	Notes of the meetings are available at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodrin/milk/supplychainforum/dscfworkofforum.htm

Departmental Catering

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has held with other Ministers on the sourcing of publicly-procured food; and what proportion of such food was of British origin in 2005.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 16 June 2006
	DEFRA Ministers have had recent discussions with other Ministers on the sourcing of publicly-procured food and announcements will be made in the very near future.
	The Department is not aware of any central source of information on the proportion of publicly-procured food that was of British origin in 2005. The information could be determined only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Press Office

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many  (a) black and Asian and  (b) other people are employed in his Department's press office.

Barry Gardiner: The Department currently has 31 members of staff employed in the Press Office, of which 15 have declared they are white, three black and Asian, and 13 are unknown/undeclared.
	Information on the ethnicity is collected on a voluntary basis.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of his staff are  (a) under and  (b) over 55 years of age.

Barry Gardiner: As at 31 December 2005, there were  (a) 5,212 staff under and  (b) 735 staff over 55 years of age in DEFRA.

End-of-life Vehicles

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what obligations are placed on members of the public wishing to sell vehicle parts on  (a) the internet and  (b) elsewhere under the End of Life Vehicles legislation.

Ben Bradshaw: End of Life Vehicles legislation does not place any requirements on members of the public selling vehicle parts on the internet or elsewhere.

End-of-life Vehicles

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Environment Agency in enforcing the End of Life Vehicles legislation.

Ben Bradshaw: DEFRA is satisfied with the way the Environment Agency are enforcing the End of Life Vehicles legislation.
	In 2004, the Environment Agency took 15 prosecutions for offences involving the keeping or treating of End of Life Vehicles (ELVs). The figure for 2005 was 30. There have been 13 in the first five months of 2006. These are cases where ELVs were the main or a significant proportion of the waste being handled illegally.

English Nature

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the grant-in-aid to English Nature for 2006-07 will be paid.

Barry Gardiner: Grant in aid is paid to English Nature on a monthly basis. Payments totalling £16 million have already been made to English Nature during the first quarter of this financial year. The next monthly claim, for £4 million, has recently been submitted by English Nature to cover July operational costs and this will be paid within the next week. My Department expects to be in a position to confirm English Nature's overall financial settlement for 2006-07 shortly.

Fisheries

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Libyan counterpart on British fishing rights in Libyan waters.

Ben Bradshaw: I have participated in no recent discussions regarding fishing opportunities for UK fishermen in Libyan waters.
	Fishing opportunities for European Fishermen in Third Country Waters are negotiated by the European Commission through a Fisheries Partnership Agreement. Under the Common Fisheries policy the European Commission has competency to represent the member states in this context.
	Currently there is no Fisheries Partnership Agreement between Libya and the European Community and there are no plans to make one in the foreseeable future.
	This would not prevent individual UK fishermen gaining access to Libyan waters under a private agreement with Libyan fishermen. There are no European or UK laws preventing this at present. However this would be a private business venture up to the fishermen involved, and would necessitate the agreement of the Libyan Government.

Housing

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the Affordable Rural Housing Commission; and when he expects to make a decision on additional funds for housing in rural areas.

Barry Gardiner: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Minister for Housing and Planning both took part in discussions of the Affordable Rural Housing Commission report on the day of its launch. Affordable rural housing will continue to be one of the subjects covered in the regular dialogue between the two Departments and across Government.
	The Government are currently considering the report and will use a range of channels and mechanisms to respond in a constructive way to the agenda set by the Commission, including in the forthcoming Spending Review.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside his Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in his Department; and what IT  (a) expertise and  (b) qualifications they possess.

Barry Gardiner: In each of the last five years, the Department (core Defra only) has spent the following on information technology (IT) sourced from outside the Department:
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 2001-02 29,713,164 
			 2002-03 43,297,947 
			 2003-04 54,704,124 
			 2004-05 41,214,953 
			 2005-06 86,253,815 
			  Notes: 1. These figures do not include expenditure on Capital Equipment or Construction in Progress (CIP)*. 2. Capital Expenditure (Capex) is shown on clearing account balance sheets, if expenditure is not cleared to the Fixed Assets Register (FAR) and CIP Register. 3. Therefore the end year balances on the Clearing equipment and CIP balance sheets may include expenditure c/f from earlier years. 4. There are no central records of actual IT Capex spend for these years. 5. Costs include consultancy expenditure related to the E-nabling programme. 6. Does not include any IT spend hidden in programme—0460**. 
		
	
	The Chief Information Officer, Chris Chant, is responsible for the successful delivery of IT projects within Defra. He has extensive experience in leading business transformation, large programme management, strategic supplier management and change management. His previous experience includes being the Service Delivery Team Director in the e-Government Unit of the Cabinet Office, and responsibility for the Inland Revenue e-Services Programme.

Information Technology

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the  (a) originally estimated,  (b) most recently estimated and  (c) outturn cost was in each of the five largest information technology contracts agreed with outside suppliers over the last five years.

Barry Gardiner: The Department is able to confirm that over the last five years there have been three large IT contracts agreed with outside suppliers, and these are with Accenture, IBM, and LogicaCMG.
	 Accenture
	 (a) Original estimated cost—£34.10 million
	 (b) Recently estimated costs—£55.04 million
	 (c) Outturn costs—£55.04 million (plus enhancement work to the value of £928,000 in 2005-06 and £2.7 million in 2006-07).
	 IBM
	 (a) Original estimated cost—£85 million per year
	 (b) Recently estimated costs—£85 million per year
	 (c) Outturn costs—£24,499,785 in 2004-05 and £97,217,291 in 2005-06.
	 LogicaCMG
	 (a) Original estimated cost—£16.10 million
	 (b) Recently estimated costs—£17.492 million (plus annual indexation)
	 (c) Outturn costs—Cost of supply was £6.7 million in 2002. The balance is for support and maintenance to be paid over the remainder of the contract, which ends in 2014.
	Smaller, local IT contracts will also have been agreed; however, information on these is neither managed nor maintained centrally, and therefore it would incur disproportionate costs to collate. Only by reference to such information would it be possible to determine which are the fourth and fifth largest IT contracts, agreed with outside suppliers, in the Department.

Meat Imports

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many samples of imported beef and beef products from  (a) other EU member states and  (b) other countries were tested for residues of (i) oestradiol, (ii) testosterone, (iii) progesterone, (iv) zeranol, (v) trenbolone and (vi) melegesterol acetate in (A) 2004 and (B) 2005;
	(2)  what the most recent date on which beef imported into the UK was tested for residues of oestradiol; and how many samples were collected.

Ben Bradshaw: In 2004, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) organised the testing of 301 samples of imported beef for trenbolone and zeranol (one sample was found to be of UK origin and one was unassayable on arrival at the laboratory).
	Of the 299 assayable imported samples, 82 were from other EU member states and 217 were from other countries. No detectable residues of either trenbolone or zeranol were found in 2004, which was also the case in 2003. Trenbolone and zeranol were therefore removed from the imports surveillance programme for 2005 on the recommendation of the independent veterinary residues committee, which oversees the surveillance work of the VMD and advises the food standards agency on relevant surveys. They may be included again in the future.
	
		
			   2003  2004 
			  Substance  Samples  Positive  Samples  Positive 
			 Trenbolone 300 — 299 — 
			 Zeranol 300 — 299 — 
		
	
	Testing was not carried out for the other listed substances in 2004 and 2005 and imported beef has not been tested for residues of oestradiol. All of the results of the VMD's surveillance for residues of veterinary medicines and other substances are published in its quarterly magazine, (MAVIS) available from its website at: www.vmd.gov.uk
	Oestradiol is a naturally occurring hormone. It will be present in beef at varying concentrations, dependant on the physiological state of the animal when it was slaughtered, and also its sex and age. Muscle, which is the matrix available for testing is not ideal. The EU's community reference laboratory recommends serum, which is not available in imported beef.
	Scientific advice from two of the UK's national reference laboratories for veterinary residues analysis is that any difference in concentrations between untreated animals and those treated with exogenous oestradiol is very small. So, distinguishing between them would be unlikely. Therefore no testing has been carried out on imported beef in the last 10 years. Responsibility for testing produce from non-EU member states rests with the country of entry into the EU. Once produce has entered the EU, it should have free circulation within all member states, as part of the single market.
	EU legislation imposes a series of health and supervisory requirements on non-EU countries before they export food to the EU. These are designed to ensure that imported animals and animal products meet standards at least equivalent to those required for production in, and trade between, member states. The use of the listed substances as growth promoting hormones is banned in the EU, and therefore they should not be present in beef imported into the EU.
	The European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office check on compliance with such legislation in EU and non-EU countries exporting to the EU.

Milk Industry

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assistance he is making available to encourage co-operation in the milk industry.

Barry Gardiner: The Government are helping to promote greater co-operation through the Dairy Supply Chain Forum. The group regularly brings together all the key links in the supply chain to discuss the challenges facing the dairy industry, and to develop collaborative solutions.
	The dairy industry also directly benefits from grants awarded under the Agriculture Development scheme. These are helping to fund benchmarking workshops and create a network of dairy best practice groups.
	The Government are also supporting the work of English Farming and Food Partnerships (EFFP). Its aim is to promote and encourage greater co-operation and collaboration in all sectors of the farming and food industries, and all the major dairy co-operatives in England are involved. EFFP is currently taking forward an initiative called "share to milk", which will highlight examples of successful collaborative activity and best practice in the dairy sector.

Minister of State (Sustainable Farming and Foods)

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2006,  Official Report, column 100W, of the Minister of State (sustainable farming and foods), if he will estimate the proportion of the time that Lord Rooker has devoted to official duties that he has spent on the affairs of his Department.

Barry Gardiner: Lord Rooker works full-time on Defra affairs. His other responsibilities, as Northern Ireland spokesman and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, are undertaken on top of his departmental duties when he is in the House of Lords.

New Technologies (Research)

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of his Department's budget was spent researching new technologies in the last period for which figures are available.

Barry Gardiner: Science, engineering and technology (SET) statistics provide a breakdown of Government R and D expenditure by primary purpose and Department. The following table outlines spend for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for 2003-04 on Technology Support and gives this as a percentage of the Department's total budget. The category Technology Support includes strategic as well as applied research, and pre-competitive research. These figures exclude funding of the research base under the science budget and are derived from SET statistics. Tables 3.5 and 3.10 are available on the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/science/science-funding/set-stats/govt-exp-r&d/index.html hard copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library.
	
		
			  Analysis of DEFRA R and D expenditure 
			  Purpose  £ million  Percentage of total Department budget 
			 General Support 16.9 0.33 
			 Government Services 6.0 0.12 
			 Policy Support 128.8 2.52 
			 Technology Support 29.2 0.57 
			 Total R and D 181.0 3.55 
			  Definitions: General Support for research All basic and applied R and D which advances knowledge for its own sake; support for postgraduate research studentships (PhD's).  Government Services R and D relevant to any aspects of Government service provision (all defence included here).  Policy Support R and D which Government funds to inform policy (excluding Government Services and Technology Support) and for monitoring developments of significance for the welfare of the population.  Technology Support—applied R and D that advances technology underpinning the UK economy (but excluding defence). The category includes strategic as well as applied research, and pre-competitive research under schemes such as LINK.  Source: ONS Government R and D Survey.

Olympics

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which officials in his Department  (a) are responsible for Olympics-related activity and  (b) sit on the inter-departmental steering group for the Olympics.

Barry Gardiner: Jonathan Tillson, head of the sustainable communities division, is responsible for Olympics-related activity within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and sits on the inter-departmental steering group for the Olympics.

Rural Enterprise Scheme

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will enable surplus funds in his Department's rural enterprise scheme and processing and marketing scheme to be re-allocated to the South-West England region to cover the funding shortfall; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The rural enterprise scheme and processing and marketing grant have been very popular and successful across the country. The announcement, in February this year that these schemes would close on 30 June led to a large increase in the number of applications, all of which were seeking funding from a limited budget.
	DEFRA and the Rural Development Service (RDS) expect to be able to award fully the remaining funds to projects in the respective regions where that money was scheduled to be allocated. In the event that any money remains unallocated after the final Regional Appraisal Panels have met (in August), RDS have put in place plans and procedures to allocate any surplus to the highest quality reserve projects from around the country.
	Good quality reserve projects from the South-West region would be included in this exercise, but in such an event projects will be judged on their merits regardless of the region they are from.

Rural Payments Agency

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his estimate is of the costs of running the Rural Payments Agency for each year since 2001.

Barry Gardiner: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA), an agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), was formed on 16 October 2001. Its main objective is to administer the common agricultural policy for England. The gross running costs associated with the administration of the payments to farmers for each of the five years are given as follows. The figures for 2000-01 are the combined figures for the Intervention Board and the elements of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that merged to become RPA in October 2001.
	
		
			   Amount (£ million) 
			 2000-01 140.0 
			 2001-02 (1)126.5 
			 2002-03 (2)186.4 
			 2003-04 198.4 
			 2004-05 249.2 
			 (1) Restated figure due to reclassification of costs. (2) Restated figure under merger accounting. 
		
	
	The detail supporting each of the years can be found in RPA's annual report and accounts under House of Commons publication numbers HC 1197 (for both 2000-01 and 2001-02), HC 940, HC 1009 and HC 82 respectively.

Single Farm Payments

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress has been made in making single farm payments to farmers in Northamptonshire.

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many single farm payments have been made in  (a) England and  (b) Shropshire in excess of entitlements; and, in each case, by what aggregate amount.

Barry Gardiner: As at 23 June 2006 104,230 payments had been made in respect of Single Payment Scheme applications. This figure consists of full and partial payments. Work is continuing by the Rural Payments Agency to pay as many claims as possible using a variety of methods by the end of the payment window on 30 June.
	Payments have been calculated and paid based on the number of entitlements established, including a substantial number of partial payments, where the payment was calculated on the basis of an estimated number of entitlements.
	Details of payments made in England up to 30 June 2006, including by constituency and county, are not presently available but will be published in due course.

Single Farm Payments

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency will receive a financial bonus for the complete payment of single farm payments.

Barry Gardiner: The chief executive of the RPA was replaced after advising Ministers that, contrary to earlier assurances, the bulk of 2005 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) payments would not be made by the end of March. The current interim chief executive, who is now responsible for turning the system around, will be eligible for a bonus payment at the end of this financial year subject to the achievement of challenging targets. These will be set in the light of his plans to improve the RPA's performance and will certainly cover the administration of the SPS.

Single Farm Payments

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what payments have been made to third parties in relation to administering the Single Payment Scheme.

Barry Gardiner: The main third parties whose services have been used to set up the administration of the Single Payment Scheme are Accenture, Infoterra and Black & Veatch. Payments made to date to each of these companies are detailed as follows:
	
		
			  Main third party  £ million 
			 Accenture 49.9 
			 Infoterra 9.36 
			 Black & Veatch 0.4 
		
	
	In addition, the Rural Payments Agency has employed agency staff and consultants.

Single Farm Payments

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission regarding EU fines for not paying all of the Single Farm Payment by 30 June 2006; whether the deadline will be extended; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much the European Commission will fine the UK Government for missing the 30 June 2006 deadline for Single Farm Payment if  (a) 85 per cent.,  (b) 86 per cent.,  (c) 87 per cent.,  (d) 88 per cent.,  (e) 89 per cent.,  (f) 90 per cent.,  (g) 91 per cent.,  (h) 92 per cent.,  (i) 93 per cent.,  (j) 94 per cent.,  (k) 95 per cent.,  (l) 96 per cent.,  (m) 97 per cent.,  (n) 98 per cent.,  (o) 99 per cent. have been paid by the deadline.

Barry Gardiner: The end of the regulatory payment window for the 2005 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) is 30 June 2006. Discussions with the European Commission suggest that a formal extension to that window is unlikely, but those discussions will continue, focussed on the application of separate regulatory requirements on the EU funding of payments. As things stand, those requirements are, in summary, that where payments made after 30 June in any member state amount to 4 per cent. or less of what was paid out before that date, no reduction in EU funding will be imposed. For any amounts outstanding after 30 June over and above the 4 per cent. threshold, reductions will apply as follows:
	
		
			  Month  Percentage 
			 up to 1 10 
			 up to 2 25 
			 up to 3 45 
			 up to 4 70 
			 up to 5 or more 100 
		
	
	Furthermore, where the 4 per cent. threshold has not been used by 15 October, it will be reduced to 2 per cent.
	Whether there is any reduction in EU funding of UK 2005 SPS payments and, if so, how much will, therefore, depend on the amount and timing of any payments made after 30 June deadline across the UK.

Single Farm Payments

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on computer training for the systems to implement the Single Farm Payment.

Barry Gardiner: The expenditure on training in the new business processes and IT systems in the implementation and ongoing delivery of the Single Payment Scheme was £1,342,296.

Sovereign Strategy

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his answer of 5 June 2006,  Official Report, column 165W, on Sovereign Strategy, on how many occasions  (a) he,  (b) his predecessor and  (c) other Ministers in his Department met (i) Alan Donnelly, (ii) representatives of Alan Donnelly and (iii) others about whom he was informed that they were representatives of Sovereign Strategy, regardless of whether they were acting in that capacity at the meeting, in the last 12 months.

Barry Gardiner: There is no departmental record of any meeting in the last 12 months between the Secretary of State, his predecessor, or other Ministers, and representatives of Alan Donnelly or Sovereign Strategy.

Special Advisers

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what role is played by special advisers in answering parliamentary questions asked of his Department.

Barry Gardiner: Special advisers conduct themselves in accordance with the requirements of the code of conduct for special advisers.

Uplands Rewards Scheme

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the Uplands Reward Scheme provides for  (a) appropriate staffing levels and  (b) appropriate levels and mix of stock to maintain the integrity of the Uplands.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 27 June 2006
	The consultation on the future upland reward structure closed on 22 May. We are currently considering responses. A mixed stocking option will be added to the Entry Level Environmental Stewardship Scheme this summer. This will encourage a mix of stock.

Water Companies

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of whether each of the regulated water companies is making a reasonable rate of return on capital as defined in the relevant legislation; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of whether water companies are making excessive rates of return.

Ian Pearson: The Government recognise that companies have to earn a return on their capital and Ofwat has a duty to enable them to reasonably do so. At each price review, Ofwat must make a judgment about what is a reasonable return on capital to be allowed in price limits. If companies outperform Ofwat's assumptions at the last price review, then customers will share the benefit in their bills from 2010.
	Rates of return earned by water companies in 2000-05 were lower than 1990-95.

Woodland

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are in place for the protection of woodland in  (a) South Swindon constituency and  (b) the Great Western Community Forest.

Barry Gardiner: A number of measures are in place to protect woodlands in England including South Swindon and Great Western Community Forest. In particular the felling of woodland is controlled through the felling regulations. Additionally, many woodlands are subject to further controls where they lie within designated areas such as sites of special scientific interest or special areas of conservation.
	Local planning authorities also have wide powers to protect trees and woodland by means of Tree Preservation Orders.
	Where it is intended to fell trees and use the land for another purpose the proposals will be assessed under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) Regulations and consent for felling under these regulations may also be required from the Forestry Commission.
	Planning Policy Statement 9 says that, for areas of ancient woodland that do not benefit from statutory protection, planning permission should not be granted for any development that would result in its loss or deterioration unless the need for, and benefits of, the development in that location outweigh the loss of the woodland habitat.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Mayoral Referendum

Caroline Spelman: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what guidance the Electoral Commission has issued on the classification of expenditure on  (a) gathering signatures for a mayoral petition and  (b) campaigning for or against a mayoral referendum.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it does not issue guidance on the classification of expenditure for mayoral referendums as it has no statutory remit in respect of such referendums.

Party Accounts

Andrew Turner: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what steps the Commission is taking to ensure compliance with the law on publication of party accounts; and how many constituency parties or associations of  (a) the Conservative party,  (b) the Labour party and  (c) the Liberal Democrats complied in the last year for which information is available.

Peter Viggers: holding answer 4 July 2006
	The Commission informs me that it regularly communicates with registered political parties to ensure that both they and their registered accounting units comply with the law on submission of accounts. This includes the provision of information, sending out reminder letters and arranging meetings wherever necessary. Where the Commission feels further action is necessary, officers from the Commission work with individual parties in enhancing their financial reporting systems to improve their ability to comply with the law.
	Any registered accounting unit whose gross income or total expenditure in a financial year exceeds £25,000 is required to submit a statement of accounts to the Commission within three months of the year end if these are not required to be audited, and six months if they are. The Commission has no means of knowing, in advance, which accounting units will exceed the £25,000 reporting threshold in any given year.
	In the year to 31 December 2004 (the last year for which information is available), the number of constituency parties or associations that submitted accounts were:
	
		
			   Total submitted  Submitted on time  Submitted late 
			 The Conservative party 314 308 6 
			 The Labour party 46 24 22 
			 The Liberal Democrats 83 76 7

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the composition is of the British Provisional Reconstruction Team in Helmand Province.

Kim Howells: The UK-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, consists of representatives of UK armed forces, the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development, and our embassy in Kabul's drugs team. In addition, there are UK-funded advisers working in the fields of governance, police reform, and justice/rule of law. Multinational elements include military and civilian elements from Denmark and Estonia and the US Agency for International Development, US Department for Agriculture and US State Department officials. The Afghan Government are represented by an official from the Ministry of the Interior.

Belarus

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial assistance the UK Government are giving to establish a free Belarus radio.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 4 July 2006
	Since 1 November 2005, the UK, together with EU partners, has funded independent radio broadcasts into Belarus. The most recently launched project by the European Commission is to last for two years at the cost of €2 million. The project comprises TV and radio broadcasts from Poland, Lithuania and Germany into Belarus. It also provides funding for internet print media and training of journalists.

Bulgaria/Romania

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what occasions Ministers from her Department have visited  (a) Bulgaria and  (b) Romania in the last 12 months.

Geoff Hoon: The then Minister for Europe, my right hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire, South (Mr Alexander), visited Bulgaria and Romania on 5-6 February and visited Bulgaria again from 27-28 April to attend the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting. My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs also visited both countries on 8-10 May. I hope to visit later this year.

Burma

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate she has made of the percentage of the world's uranium supplies which are in Burma.

Kim Howells: The International Atomic Energy Agency online database of world uranium deposits lists no entries for Burma. The Burmese Government have identified five sites of uranium ore deposits, located at Magway, Taungdwingyi, Kyaukphygon (Mogok), Kyauksin, and Paongpyin (Mogok). Their official reporting can be found at: www.energy.gov.mm. The total quantity of uranium is unknown, but is likely to be very limited.

Burma

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of whether the uranium produced and exported by Burma is the kind that can be used in the development of  (a) nuclear weapons and  (b) dirty bombs.

Kim Howells: We are not aware of any exports of uranium from Burma. Burma maintains that its limited uranium production is for ongoing studies into the peaceful use of nuclear power.
	Any uranium ore would have to be processed before it could be used in a nuclear facility. In particular, to be used in a nuclear weapons programme, uranium would have to be enriched to more than 90 per cent. U235. We are not aware of any enrichment facilities being operational in Burma.
	Uranium is not an effective material to use in the construction of a radiological weapon, or "dirty bomb".

Corporal Gilad Shalit

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on Israel's actions to secure the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: Israel has the right to take steps to secure the release of Corporal Shalit. Any military steps taken should avoid civilian casualties, abide by international law and observe the principle of proportionality. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed the current situation in Gaza with Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Livni on 25 June. We are in regular contact with the Palestinian President and his office. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of Corporal Shalit.
	As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said on 25 June
	"I was very disturbed to learn of this serious terrorist attack at Sufa. I send my condolences to the families of those Israeli soldiers who have died. Such continued violence makes the prospect of a negotiated, peaceful resolution more distant".

Corporal Gilad Shalit

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations  (a) she and  (b) her officials have made to the Palestinian Authority regarding the abduction and detention without trial of Corporal Gilad Shalit by Palestinian militants.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed the current situation in Gaza with Palestinian President Abbas on 25 June. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials are in regular contact with the Palestinian President and his office. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of Corporal Shalit.
	As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said on 25 June
	"I was very disturbed to learn of this serious terrorist attack at Sufa. I send my condolences to the families of those Israeli soldiers who have died. Such continued violence makes the prospect of a negotiated, peaceful resolution more distant".

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 16 May 2006 on Afghanistan and Iraq.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade (Mr. McCartney), replied to the hon. Gentleman's letter of 16 May on 29 June.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the UN peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ian McCartney: The UN peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), MONUC, is the largest and most complex mission that the UN has managed to date. Its key tasks are to facilitate political transition and power sharing arrangements, deal with armed groups outside the political process and to protect civilians.
	MONUC chairing aided the peace process since 2002 by brokering cease-fires and peace deals and the International Committee in Support of the Transition, which engages with the Congolese Government. Following MONUC's support for a successful referendum last December, the country is set to hold its first elections since the 1960s. UN expertise and MONUC's logistical support for this process have been crucial to making this possible.
	MONUC operates in a dangerous and complex environment and has been mandated by the UN Security Council, under chapter VII of the UN charter, to support the Congolese Army to disarm those groups that are a threat to the peace process and to protect civilians from rebel attack. There has been considerable progress in dealing with armed groups, but attacks on civilians remain at an unacceptable level.
	In 2004 a number of cases of sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers and staff in the DRC came to light, raising serious concerns about MONUC's management. After a thorough investigation by the Secretary-General's special representative on the issue, a series of measures were introduced to combat the problem of sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers across all UN missions. MONUC has stringently imposed these measures on UN staff and peacekeepers. We continue to keep MONUC's performance under close review in all areas of its activity, through our Embassy in Kinshasa and through regular Security Council discussions.

Departmental Premises (Security)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures are in place to ensure that no illegal immigrants are employed in the manned guarding of her Department's premises.

Geoff Hoon: Only British nationals can work as security guards in Foreign and Commonwealth Office premises in the UK. To ensure illegal immigrants are not employed the pre-employment checks require the following:
	proof of nationality with photo ID (passport);
	photo ID (passport or driving licence);
	application form completed and checked;
	four personal references;
	and
	five year employment history.

Departmental Staff

Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many disabled staff in her Department received support through the Access to Work scheme  (a) in each of the last five years and  (b) in 2006-07.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not have a complete record of the number of officers who have received support through the Access to Work scheme. Staff who seek such support contact the Department for Work and Pensions directly and are under no obligation to notify the FCO. However, we are aware of 15 staff who are currently receiving support.

Departmental Travel

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans she has to ensure that all flights undertaken by Ministers and officials in her Department are carbon neutral; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) offsets the carbon dioxide and other emissions generated by the air travel of Ministers and officials based in the UK. Each year we offset the previous year's air travel emissions, so in 2005-06 we offset our 2004 emissions. An agreement was signed with the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) at the end of 2005 to offset our 2004 emissions, one year ahead of the requirement for Government Departments to offset air travel by April 2006. Through REEEP we offset our emissions by investing in projects which provide carbon credits from renewable energy and energy efficiency schemes. Investment is concentrated in developing countries, which are highly dependent on fossil fuels and inefficient energy technology.
	We are also running a travel management campaign to encourage staff to consider and use means other than travelling to communicate with their colleagues overseas wherever practical e.g. videoconferencing.

East Timor

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answers of 15 June 2006,  Official Report, column 470W, on East Timor, what assessment she has made of whether precautions to ensure the security of  (a) Serious Crimes Unit files on crimes committed in 1999 and  (b) other files, including those on the UN investigation into the deaths of Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters in 1975, were along lines requested by her Department of the UN and of the Government of Timor-Leste; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: We have informed the UN Mission to East Timor and the East Timorese Government of the importance that we attach to the security of all case files. All Serious Crimes Unit files have been copied digitally and are held by the UN. However, as yet, due to the recent civil unrest in East Timor and resulting lack of personnel within the local government, it has not been possible for the UN to establish the location of the UN investigation files relating to Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters. We will continue to press for this information.

Ethiopia

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations her Department has made to the Government of Ethiopia on the human rights situation in that country; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to her on 29 June 2006,  Official Report, columns 574-75W.

EU (Qualified Majority Voting)

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when officials in her Department first became aware of EU Commission proposals to extend qualified majority voting over police and judicial affairs.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 4 July 2006
	The possibility of extending qualified majority voting to police and judicial affairs was provided for in the Amsterdam and Nice treaties. Article 42 of the treaty on European Union (TEU)—the passerelle—allows for areas governed by title VI (third pillar) to be transferred to title IV (first pillar) by unanimous Council decision. It is likely, although not inevitable, that this would mean a move to qualified majority voting and co-decision, which is the norm in the first pillar.
	The European Commission's plans to put forward proposals for exploiting Article 42 TEU and changing the decision-making arrangements in the field of police and judicial affairs were raised, in general terms, in its communication "A Citizens' Agenda: Delivering Results for Europe" on 10 May 2006. In this communication, the Commission announced its intention to
	"present an initiative to improve decision taking and accountability in areas such as police and judicial co-operation and legal migration, using the possibilities under the existing Treaties".
	The Commission's formal proposals for changing the decision-making procedure for the area of Justice and Home Affairs were not published until 28 June.
	The Finnish presidency has also announced its intention to explore the possibility of using the article 42 passerelle to improve the decision-making process. In its "Preliminary Agenda for Finland's Presidency of the EU" of 24 May, the presidency said that the review of the Hague Programme
	"could include...achieving more effective decision-making on police and criminal law (the "passerelle")".

EU Accession Countries

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the suitability of the Republic of Montenegro for membership of the European Union; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of whether  (a) the Republic of Montenegro and  (b) the Republic of Serbia will be first to join the European Union; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what discussions she has had with  (a) European Commission officials and  (b) other EU governments on the suitability of Montenegro for membership of the European Union;
	(4)  how the Stabilisation and Association negotiations will be re-launched in the aftermath of the separation of Serbia and Montenegro.

Geoff Hoon: The UK supports both Serbia's and Montenegro's European aspirations. The pace at which each country moves towards membership of the EU will depend upon it meeting the conditions required at each stage. The next stage for each state is to conclude negotiations with the EU on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The European Commission is likely to bring forward mandates for the negotiations shortly. Conclusion of agreements will depend, in both cases, on fulfilling the appropriate conditions, in particular full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. We will maintain regular discussions with the European Commission and with our EU partners on these issues.

EU Fraud

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2006,  Official Report, column 301W, on EU fraud, what information is held on allegations by diplomats; to which cases the allegations refer; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not hold a comprehensive record of EU fraud allegations. Such allegations are addressed to the EU Commission. The Government fully support the Commission's work on this issue.
	However, I can confirm that the FCO Europe Directorate does hold the following information compiled when there was public interest in two cases on 9 December 2005:
	The European Commission (EC) Staff Regulations require EC staff to raise any concerns they have with either the Director-General of their institution, the Secretary-General, "persons in equivalent positions", or the independent European Anti-Fraud Office.
	 Porte Schmidt-Brown
	Ms Schmidt-Brown recently took a case to the European Court of Justice's Court of First Instance. The Court ruled against her. It would not be appropriate to comment on the Court's judgement.
	 Hans-Martin Tillack
	Mr. Tillack filed a complaint against the European Anti-Fraud Office at the European Court of Justice's Court of First Instance. The Court rejected his case. It would not be appropriate to comment on the Court's judgement.

Extraditions (Colombia)

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what representations she has made to the Irish Government about the extradition request by the Colombian Government of James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley;
	(2)  what representations she has made to the Colombian Government in relation to its request for the extradition from the Irish Republic of James Monaghan, Niall Connolly and Martin McCauley.

Ian McCartney: We have made no representations to either the Irish or Colombian Governments over this issue.

Extraordinary Rendition

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the statement of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on 27 June on extraordinary renditions; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The Government have fully co-operated with the Council of Europe inquiries. We have found no evidence of detainees being rendered through UK territory or airspace where there were substantial grounds to believe there was a real risk of torture. The then Foreign Secretary set out in his written ministerial statement of 20 January 2006,  Official Report, columns 37-38WS, the results of the extensive review of Official Records back to May 1997.

Extraordinary Rendition

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when she will provide the information on extraordinary rendition requested by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in its nineteenth report, published in May 2006.

Kim Howells: The Government are considering the Joint Committee on Human Rights report on the Convention Against Torture and will reply to the Committee in due course.

Falkland Islands

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the British Government will play a role in supporting the secure development of oil and gas exploration facilities in the Falkland Islands waters.

Geoff Hoon: The Government will play a role in supporting the secure development of oil and gas exploration facilities in the Falkland Islands territorial sea and continental shelf. The Government are responsible for the external security and defence of the Falkland Islands. The provision of routine security and policing of oilrigs is a matter for the Falkland Islands Government and the oil exploration companies.

Gaza

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the Israeli authorities about the closure of the Kerem Shalom Crossing in Gaza; and what alternative arrangements are being made to allow access to Gaza for food and medical humanitarian assistance.

Ian McCartney: holding answer 4 July 2006
	The Kerem Shalom, as well as all other crossing points between Gaza and Israel, remains closed for Palestinian nationals. We raised our concerns about their closure and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip with the Israeli Government on 29 June and we will continue to do so. The Erez crossing remains open for humanitarian cases.
	On 2 July the Karni crossing was opened for humanitarian aid. The crossing is expected to be open for six hours a day for four days this week. According to the Israeli Ministry of Defence, Israel would allow 150 trucks carrying food and medicine to pass through the crossing each day.

Gaza

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made by the  (a) Government,  (b) EU and  (c) UN of the effect on the humanitarian situation in Gaza of (i) the closure of all land crossing in and out of Gaza, (ii) the prevention of fishermen accessing the sea and (iii) the destruction of the electricity supply station.

Ian McCartney: holding answer 4 July 2006
	We are concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza, particularly the supply of electricity, water and the closure of the Gaza-Israel crossing points. Our defence attaché in Tel Aviv raised our concerns about the worsening situation in Gaza, including the loss of power and water supplies, with the Israeli Defence Force on 29 June.
	On 30 June, the EU said it regrets the destruction of essential infrastructure, which contributes to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Restoring electricity and water supplies and access for humanitarian organisations must be a priority now to avoid a humanitarian crisis. The EU has continually called upon both parties to implement the 15 November 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, and for Israel to keep the crossing points between Gaza and Israel open.
	On 29 June the UN Secretary-General highlighted his concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. He called on
	"the Government of Israel to show restraint, to avoid actions that damage civilian infrastructure and that aggravates the hardship of the Palestinian population, and to abide by international humanitarian law. To prevent a further decline in the humanitarian situation, Israel should also act urgently to facilitate the import of essential medical supplies, foodstuffs, and particularly fuel into the Gaza Strip".
	The World Food Programme and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on the situation in Gaza on 30 June. They raised concerns over the water supply, health matters and food scarcity given the lack of electricity and a shortage of fuel caused by closures of the crossing points. We note with concern the World Food Programme assessment of the impact of fishermen not being able to go out to sea.

Israel

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring is being undertaken by the UK Government to ascertain whether military equipment and components supplied to Israel from the UK are being used in the military incursions by Israel into Gaza which commenced on 27 June 2006.

Kim Howells: In common with all of our diplomatic posts, our Embassy in Tel Aviv monitors local developments closely and notes any information which comes to light that military equipment supplied by the UK has been used in a manner inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria. The Government will take this into consideration when assessing any future export licence applications. The Government may also revoke relevant licence(s) and ask the authorities in the country concerned to investigate.
	All export licence applications from the UK are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Export Licensing Criteria, taking full account of the prevailing circumstances at the time of application.

Israel

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate she has made of  (a) the number of Palestinians taken by Israeli forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories who are held in detention without trial and  (b) the number of children taken and held in this way.

Kim Howells: Administrative detainees are held in both Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and Israel Prisons Service (IPS) facilities. According to figures provided by the IDF to Israeli non-governmental organisations, the IDF was holding, as of 3 January 2006, 741 Palestinians in administrative detention. IPS told our embassy in Tel Aviv that, as of May 2006, 617 administrative detainees were being held in IPS facilities.
	We are concerned at the policy of administrative detention, especially when periods of detention are repeatedly extended without trial and involves the detention of minors. We have made no estimate of the number of minors in Israeli prisons.

Israel

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response she has made to the agreement between Hamas and Fatah regarding acceptance of a two state settlement in Israel and Palestine; and what representations she has made to  (a) the Palestinian Authority,  (b) Israel and  (c) the USA on the subject.

Kim Howells: We would welcome any movement toward the three Quartet (EU, UN, US and Russia) principles: renounce violence; recognise Israel; and accept previous agreements, including the Roadmap. We are aware of reports that an agreement has been reached between Hamas and Fatah. We await an official announcement and further details. We will judge Hamas by their actions. We urge all parties to find a way back to negotiations, which are the best way of ensuring a lasting peace.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) on 28 June 2006,  Official Report, column 255.

Israel

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the Israeli authorities about the detention of elected Palestinian representatives.

Ian McCartney: holding answer 4 July 2006
	At the G8 Foreign Ministers meeting in Moscow on 29 June, G8 Foreign Ministers called on Israel to exercise utmost restraint in the current crisis. They also expressed their concerns over the detention of elected members of the Palestinian Government and legislature.
	On 30 June the EU raised its concerns
	"about the detention of elected members of the Palestinian Government and legislature. Those detained should be accorded their full legal rights".
	We have made no representations to the Israeli authorities on their behalf.

Israel

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information she has received on the  (a) names of the members of the Palestinian Parliament and Cabinet who have been recently arrested by the Israeli authorities and  (b) (i) where, (ii) on what charges and (iii) under what legal authority they are being detained.

Ian McCartney: holding answer 4 July 2006
	Local media has reported that the names of the arrested members of the Palestinian Government are as follows: Omar Abdel Razeq, Dr. Samir Abu-Aisha, Khaled Abu-Arafeh, Wasfi Kabaha, Issa Al- Ja'bari, Fakhri Turkman, Sheikh Nayef Al-Rjoub, Muhammad Bargouti, Basem Za'raier, Khalil Raba'I, Samir Al-Kadi, Muhammad al-Tal, Muhamad abu-Jheishah, Muhammad Bader, Anwar Zboun, Mahmoud Al-Kahtib, Wael Al-Husseini, Muhammad Abu-Teir, Ahmad Atoun, Husni Bureini, Riyad Amli, Yassir Mansour, Ibrahim Dahbour, Ibrahim Abu-Salem, Khaled Abu-Hassan, Khaled Yahia, Ryiad Raddad, Fathi Kara'wi, Imad Nofal, Naser Abdel-Jawad, Abdel-Jaber Fuqaha, Muhammad Totah and Ali Romanin. The arrests took place in the West Bank.
	Individual charges against those detained have not been made public. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that the arrest of these people
	"was taken within the context of a normal legal criminal procedure with the intention of questioning those who were arrested. They are suspected of criminal offences...that constitute a violation of the law according to the Ordinance for the Prevention of Terrorism".
	Israel has said that those arrested will be entitled to legal defence and that
	"in the event that there is no basis for putting someone among those arrested on trial, that person will be released".

Kosovo

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions her Department has had with the Serbian Government regarding the final status of Kosovo.

Geoff Hoon: I met the Serbian Prime Minister Vladimir Kostunica in London on 27 June. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister also held a meeting with Prime Minister Kostunica. On 21 June I also saw President Boris Tadic in London. During these meetings, we both stressed the need for any final settlement for Kosovo to be a realistic one, acceptable to the people of Kosovo and promoting long-term regional stability.
	We encourage Prime Minister Kostunica to ensure that the Serbian Government participate constructively in the status negotiations currently being conducted by UN Special Envoy, Martti Ahtisaari.

Russia

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the main priorities are of the UK in its relations with Russia.

Geoff Hoon: The Government will continue to sustain a productive and successful partnership with Russia which contributes to the achievement of the international priorities set out in the White Paper "Active Diplomacy for a Changing World" (28 March 2006) and the additional priority of climate security announced on 8 June 2006.

UK Ambassadors

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the names are of those who  (a) approve and  (b) select UK ambassadors.

Geoff Hoon: All Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) appointments are made in accordance with the rules in the Diplomatic Service or Home Civil Service Orders in Council.
	As with other FCO appointments, applications for Heads of Mission positions are invited and candidates considered by the relevant FCO Selection Board, as follows:
	the No 1 Selection Board (for appointments in Senior Management Structure Pay Bands 2-4 and all Governorships of Overseas Territories) is chaired by the Permanent Under-Secretary, and consists of the five Directors General and a non-Executive member of the FCO Board of Management;
	the No 2 Selection Board (for appointments in Senior Management Structure Pay Band 1) is chaired by the Director, Human Resources and consists of all FCO Directors in Senior Management Structure Pay Band 2, and the Directors for the Americas and for Russia and Central Asia, as well as an independent observer;
	the Delegated Grades Band D Board is chaired by the Human Resources Assistant Director (Operations). Three independent board members sit on each board, drawn from a pool of Senior Management Structure officers who have volunteered for this role, undergone diversity training and been agreed by the Trade Union Side.
	Some Heads of Mission appointments will be considered by interview panels, at the discretion of the Boards.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary approves all Head of Mission appointments, and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister approves all Head of Mission appointments in Pay Bands 2-4 and all Governorships of Overseas Territories, before the names of the individuals are submitted to Her Majesty the Queen for her approval.

Zimbabwe

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations she has made to the Zimbabwean authorities on freedom of expression by opposition spokespersons in Zimbabwe.

Ian McCartney: Our ambassador in Harare, Dr. Pocock, makes repeated representations to the Government of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front leaders to reverse their policies which are causing immense suffering to Zimbabweans and to restore the democratic space, including by permitting freedom of expression for all Zimbabweans as well as civic society and opposition representatives. Dr. Pocock made these representations most recently during a call on Minister Mnangagwa on 17 May.
	We will continue to work for the restoration of good governance and the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate the Government has made of the amount of Zimbabwean beef licensed for export to the EU which comes from confiscated  (a) land and  (b) stock.

Ian McCartney: The Statistical Office of the European Commission estimate that around 33 tonnes of beef products were imported into the EU from Zimbabwe in 2005. It is not possible to identify whether this came from confiscated land or stock. It is clear, however, that seizures of commercial beef farms have greatly affected production, and further demonstrates the extent of the damage caused by the Zimbabwe Government's misguided policies.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Crown Courts

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when her Department expects to finalise plans to increase Crown court capacity in Buckinghamshire; and what assessment has been made of providing Crown court facilities at  (a) Aylesbury,  (b) Milton Keynes and  (c) both.

Harriet Harman: A strategic business case has been prepared which outlines the need to seek to replace the current Aylesbury Crown court facilities with modern premises that provide additional capacity for the future.
	The business case was prepared on the basis of reviewing the current and future requirements for the county of Buckinghamshire including Milton Keynes Unitary Authority.
	At this stage it is considered that the facility will be in one location, still to be defined, and will serve the county of Buckinghamshire, including Milton Keynes.
	The business case has been submitted to Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) to be reviewed and receive detailed consideration by the National Property Board in the coming months. If the business case is determined as appropriate, it will be subject to prioritisation in the future HMCS building programme, and will then be dependant on Treasury approval of the HMCS capital spending programme.
	In the meantime, the current Crown court requirements for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes are being reviewed to ensure that all courtroom capacity in the Thames Valley HMCS area is fully utilised to facilitate the early scheduling of cases. This does, on occasions, require the transfer of cases to other locations until a new facility is built to replace Aylesbury Crown court.
	It is not anticipated that any new court building would be available before 2010, should it receive an early approval by the National Property Board for inclusion in current and future building schemes.

Parliamentary Papers

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make it her policy to make copies of Deposited Papers available in  (a) the Vote Office and  (b) Printed Paper Office at the same time as copies are deposited in the Library of the House; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given on 3 July 2006,  Official Report, column 729W by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Accident Victims

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in how many cases recoupment of benefits for accident victims has taken place in the last three years; how much was recouped  (a) in total,  (b) for road accident cases,  (c) for accidents at work cases,  (d) for clinical negligence cases and  (e) in other cases; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Total cases where recoupment from damages awarded to accident victims has been made by the Compensation Recovery Unit in each of the past three years 
			   Total cases  Road accident victims (motor)  Accidents at work (employer)  Clinical negligence  Other cases 
			 2003-04 69,607 22,492 40,192 1,364 5,559 
			 2004-05 66,369 21,722 37,542 1,426 5,679 
			 2005-06 68,581 20,124 41,486 1,453 5,518 
		
	
	
		
			  Amounts recovered by the Compensation Recovery Unit by way of recoupment from damages awarded to accident victims in each of the past three years 
			   Total Amount (£)  Road accident victims (motor)  Accidents at work (employer)  Clinical negligence  Other cases 
			 2003-04 171,096,832 47,548,518 105,222,813 5,678,918 12,646,583 
			 2004-05 163,392,733 46,369,383 98,117,141 6,110,571 12,795,638 
			 2005-06 148,840,619 42,217,163 87,524,579 6,750,203 12,348,674 
			  Notes: 1. The column titled "Other Cases" includes other, public and unknown liabilities. 2. The figures in table (2) are rounded up to the nearest £.  Source: Figures are taken from the Compensation Recovery Unit's management information statistics.

Departmental IT Systems

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers) of14 March 2006,  Official Report, column 2167W, on departmental IT systems, if he will list the suppliers and contractors involved in each project; and what proportion of listed outturn for each project was paid to each supplier and contractor involved.

James Purnell: The following table shows the project name, purpose, actual end date and outturn included in the answer to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers) of 14 March 2006,  Official Report, column 2167W. We have added supplier/contractor and proportion of outturn columns and included the name of the principal IT suppliers/contractors for each project and the proportion of the outturn paid to these suppliers/contractors.
	
		
			  Project/purpose  Actual end date  Outturn (£ million)  Supplier/contractor  Proportion of outturn paid to the supplier/contractor (percentage) 
			  Customer Management System 
			 This system is an information gathering business process for working age income support, jobseeker's allowance and incapacity benefit claims and changes of circumstances. It will allow information supplied by the customer to be gathered electronically by staff, improving efficiency and customer service. Staff will be able to check information supplied against that already held November 2005 250 IBM 41 
			EDS 16 
			  
			  ISCS/JSA Modernisation Project 
			 Delivered initiatives that enhanced or augmented existing Working Age IT systems. These included the sharing of electronic data with disability living allowance, attendance allowance and personal details computer systems August 2004 14 EDS 66 
			  
			  Digital Office Infrastructure 
			 DOI provided a modern IT infrastructure platform across the Department providing access for all staff to the internet and intranet and modern business software June 2004 (1)726 EDS 65 
			BT 30 
			  
			  Managing Core Systems Estate 
			 To improve the ways in which our core legacy systems are managed February 2005 5 Accenture 45 
			EDS 15 
			  
			  Pensions Forecasting Programme 
			 To establish the new Combined Pension Forecasting Service and enhance and replace the existing individual Pension Forecasting IT system April 2005 43 EDS 40 
			  
			  Pensions credit 
			 This project successfully introduced pension credit in October 2003. It delivered new IT functionality to existing DWP systems, and associated business products (eg training, staff guidance, customer notifications) October 2004 297 EDS 30.6 
			  
			  Payment Modernisation Programme 
			 The Payment Modernisation Programme aims to establish direct payment into a bank or building society account as the normal, method of payment for all customers. This includes those who wish to collect their money from the Post Office June 2005 366 EDS 12 
			ATOS Origin 47 
			 (1) This resource expenditure relates to 64 per cent. of the total DOI figure. The remaining 36 per cent. of the total relates to capital expenditure—the records that would allow us to provide an accurate picture of how this capital expenditure was split over the suppliers has been archived. The costs associated with the retrieval of these documents, and the accompanying staff time costs required to go through the records to identify these by supplier/contractor, would be excessive and time consuming.  Notes: 1. Outturn figures show the final investment cost for the completed projects. 2. The New Tax Credits project has not been included above as the project is still ongoing. It was inadvertently shown as completed in my response to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers) of 14 March 2006,  Official Report, column 2167W.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many surviving spouses of members of pension schemes  (a) have completed and  (b) are in the process of completing the financial assistance scheme eligibility process.

James Purnell: The financial assistance scheme eligibility process is completed once a decision has been made as to whether or not a member is eligible for payments from the financial assistance scheme.
	The process has  (a) been completed for nine surviving spouses of members and  (b) 10 are still being processed.

Housing Benefit

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on housing benefit in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Local authority Housing Benefit expenditure; Great Britain. 
			   £ 
			 1996-97 6,461,567,421 
			 1997-98 6,382,935,803 
			 1998-99 6,454,971,767 
			 1999-2000 6,609,544,876 
			 2000-01 6,800,139,226 
			 2001-02 7,252,541,165 
			 2002-03 8,279,956,608 
			 2003-04 8,212,197,616 
			 2004-05 13,146,385,061 
			  Note: 1. From 2004-05, the DWP expenditure includes £4,157,388, 700 HRA rent rebates; HRA for previous years was paid by DCLG.  2. Figures are reported expenditure by local authorities and not DWP subsidy expenditure. 3. Figures are nominal amounts.  Source:  Local authority reported expenditure.

Housing Benefit

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of housing benefit  (a) overpayments and  (b) fraud was to Luton Council in each of the last five years.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Overpayments and recoveries by Luton Council, 2004-05 
			  £ 
			  Value of overpayments identified by Luton Council  Subsidy paid by DWP to Luton council (40 per cent. of overpayments identified)  Net cost to Luton council before recovery  Recovered by Luton council  Net cost after recovery 
			 986,776 394,710 592,066 1,007,423 -415,357 
			  Notes: 1. A negative amount implies a surplus. 2. The cost of overpayments is calculated first from the difference between the value of overpayments identified due to fraud and claimant error, and the subsidy received by Luton council for these overpayments. This value minus any overpayments subsequently recovered from claimants or landlords is presented here as the net cost after recovery. Administrative costs, such as those for fraud teams and for recovering overpayments, have not been included in this answer. 3. The amount recovered by Luton council in 2004-05 includes overpayments identified in earlier years. 
		
	
	Information is not available on local authority performance in respect of the level of Housing Benefit fraud present in their caseload, since it is not possible to robustly estimate the amount of undetected fraud and error at a local authority level.

Housing Benefit

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on housing benefit for tenants in  (a) council property,  (b) housing association property,  (c) registered social landlord property and  (d) private sector housing in Tamworth constituency in each of the last three years.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available broken down by constituency. Information cannot be broken down by landlord type other than by council or private tenancies. The latter includes housing associations and registered social landlords. The available DWP information for Tamworth borough council is in the table.
	
		
			  Housing benefit expenditure in Tamworth borough council. 
			 £ 
			   Expenditure in council property  Expenditure in all private property  All housing benefit expenditure 
			 2002-03 237,000 3,824,000 4,061,000 
			 2003-04 138,000 3,866,000 4,004,000 
			 2004-05 7,318,000 4,027,000 11,345,000 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. There are issues still to be resolved in the 2004-05 claim and therefore the figures for this year are subject to change 3. From 2004-05, the DWP expenditure includes £7,086,780 HRA Rent Rebates; HRA for previous years was paid by DCLG. 4. Figures are reported expenditure by local authorities and not DWP subsidy expenditure. 5. Figures are nominal amounts.   Source: Audited subsidy claims submitted by local authority

Kvaerner Pension Fund

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received regarding the decision of the pensions regulator on the future contributions of TH Global to the Kvaerner Pension Fund.

James Purnell: My Department has received seven written representations from Members of Parliament about the decision of the regulator in respect of the Kvaerner Pension Fund since the two press releases in April and May on the future of the scheme.

Pension Credit

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of female pensioners were  (a) eligible to claim and  (b) receiving pension credit in (i) the UK, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) England in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: The information is not available in the format requested. Information on female beneficiaries of pension credit in Great Britain is in the following table. In Northern Ireland, pension credit administration is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
	
		
			  Female beneficiaries of pension credit in Great Britain February 2006 
			   Female beneficiaries  Female beneficiaries as a percentage of women 60 or over( 1) 
			 Wales 130,080 34 
			 Scotland 222,610 36 
			 England 1,817,280 31 
			 Great Britain 2,169,960 32 
			 (1) Beneficiaries includes single women in receipt of pension credit, and women in couples who are in receipt of pension credit.  Notes: 1. These figures are early estimates. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figures provided are the latest available figures which are taken from the GMS scan at 17 February 2006. These are adjusted using the historical relationship between WPLS and GMS data to give an estimate of the final WPLS figure. Average amounts are displayed as at the scan reference data of 17 February 2006. 2. Case loads are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Percentages are rounded to the nearest full point. 4. Figures may include female partners who are aged under 60.  5. Population figures used in the percentage calculation are based on ONS mid-term 2004 population estimates.  Source: Department for Work and Pensions 100 per cent. data from the Generalised Matching Service (GMS). Pension credit scan taken as at 17 February 2006.

Pension Credit

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the  (a) number and  (b) proportion of pensioners who will be entitled to receive pension credit in (i) 2010, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2030, (iv) 2040 and (v) 2050, assuming pension credit remains linked to earnings growth; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: The numbers eligible for pension credit in the future are subject to a range of uncertainties and a number of factors including policies on uprating different benefits. Table 1 shows the projected number and proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit under the proposals contained in the White Paper "Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system."
	
		
			  Table 1: Projected number and proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit for selected years under the White Paper proposals. 
			   Number of pensioner households eligible (million)  Percentage of pensioner households eligible 
			 2010 4.15 44 
			 2020 3.45 41 
			 2030 2.95 31 
			 2040 2.80 27 
			 2050 2.95 29 
			  Notes: 1. Projections of the number and proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit are sensitive to modelling assumptions and to projected changes in the distribution of pensioner incomes. 2. The estimates of proportions shown here are the mid-points of projections taken from two separate micro-simulation models. Modelling of the reform proposals does not include any increase in private saving from the introduction of personal accounts, which would further reduce the numbers eligible for pension credit. 3. Projections of the number of pensioner households eligible for pension credit are derived from the projected proportions eligible and projections of the number of pensioner households in Great Britain. 4. These projections assume: continued earnings uprating of the standard guarantee credit; earnings uprating of the savings credit threshold from 2008 to 2014; earnings uprating of the basic state pension from 2012; price uprating of the maximum savings credit from 2015; measures to improve coverage of the basic state pension described in the White Paper. 5. Estimates cover all those aged above women's state pension age in the private household population of Great Britain. 6. Estimates account for equalisation of state pension age between 2010 and 2020. They also account for the proposed further increases in state pension age described in the White Paper. The estimates assume that the minimum age at which people can claim pension credit rises in line with women's state pension age. 7. Estimates are calibrated to the mid-points of the 2004-5 National Statistics range estimates of non-eligibility to pension credit, which adjust 2004-05 Family Resources Survey data to take account of possible biases in reporting. Although the estimates here are not presented as ranges, they are subject to a margin of uncertainty. 8. Estimates of the number of pensioner households eligible are rounded to the nearest 50,000.

Pension Credit

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the proportion of pensioner benefit units entitled to pension credit in each year between 2002-03 and 2020-21; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: The numbers eligible for pension credit in the future are subject to a range of uncertainties and a number of factors including policies on uprating different benefits. Table 1 shows the estimated proportion of all pensioner households eligible for pension credit from 2003-04—the first year in which pension credit was available—to 2007-08. Table 2 shows projections from 2008-09 to 2020-21 under the proposals contained in the White Paper "Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system."
	
		
			  Table 1: Estimated proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit under the current system 
			   Percentage 
			 2003-04 48 
			 2004-05 46 
			 2005-06 45 
			 2006-07 45 
			 2007-08 46 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Projected proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit for selected years under the White Paper proposals 
			   Percentage 
			 2008-09 45 
			 2009-10 45 
			 2010-11 44 
			 2011-12 45 
			 2012-13 45 
			 2013-14 44 
			 2014-15 44 
			 2015-16 44 
			 2016-17 43 
			 2017/18 42 
			 2018-19 41 
			 2019-20 41 
			 2020-21 41 
			  Notes: 1. Projections of the proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit are sensitive to modelling assumptions and to projected changes in the distribution of pensioner incomes. 2. The estimates of proportions shown here are the mid-points of projections taken from two separate micro-simulation models. Modelling of the reform proposals does not include any increase in private saving from the introduction of personal accounts, which would further reduce the numbers eligible for pension credit. 3. The reform projections assume: continued earnings uprating of the standard guarantee credit; earnings uprating of the savings credit threshold from 2008 to 2014; earnings uprating of the basic state pension from 2012; price uprating of the maximum savings credit from 2015; measures to improve coverage of the basic state pension described in the White Paper. 4. Estimates cover all those aged above women's state pension age in the private household population of Great Britain. 5. Estimates account for equalisation of state pension age between 2010 and 2020. They also account for the proposed further increases in state pension age described in the White Paper. The estimates assume that the minimum age at which people can claim pension credit rises in line with women's state pension age. 6. Estimates are calibrated to the mid-points of the 2004/5 National Statistics range estimates of non-eligibility to Pension Credit, which adjust 2004/5 Family Resources Survey data to take account of possible biases in reporting. Although the estimates here are not presented as ranges, they are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Pension Credit

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many plastic folder-style pension credit wallets have been printed by the Pension Service.

James Purnell: The pension credit "plastic folder style" wallets were designed to allow customers to store their pension credit correspondence. Production of these wallets ceased in February 2003; approximately 1,350,000 were produced.

Pensions

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the effect on retirement income for pensioners who are members of defined contribution schemes in  (a) 2020,  (b) 2030,  (c) 2040 and  (d) 2050 of a reduction equivalent to the value of the contracted-out rebate in contributions.

James Purnell: The amount of pension derived from the contracted-out rebate for defined contribution schemes depends on investment returns and annuity rates at the point of retirement and it is not possible to predict the amount of that pension.
	Where people contract out under such schemes, they forego all or part of their State Second Pension and, in return, part of their National Insurance Contributions is rebated and invested to build up a funded pension. The value of these rebates, subject to an age cap, is actuarially neutral in relation to the State benefit foregone. If a person ceases to be contracted-out, they will start to build up rights to State Second Pension. Given the actuarial neutrality of the rebate, they should generally be no better or worse off in retirement as a result of not receiving the contracted-out rebate.

Security in Retirement

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the proposals in "Security in retirement" whether earnings-related accruals in the state second pension (SSP) scheme up to 2030 will be paid to those receiving SSP for the first time after 2030; and how the earnings-related accruals to SSP will taper away after the restoration of the earnings link to the basic pension.

James Purnell: Earnings-related accruals of state second pension would be tapered away by around 2030 by freezing the national insurance upper earnings limit, for the purpose of state second pension accruals, in cash terms from the point at which earnings uprating of the basic state pension as proposed in the White Paper is introduced. Earnings-related accruals built up under the state earnings-related pension scheme and/or the state second pension prior to 2030 would be fully protected and would continue to be revalued in line with earnings from that date. The combination of our proposals to 'flat-rate' accruals of the state second pension and earnings uprate the basic state pension would ensure that the state pension outcomes for people reaching state pension age after 2030 would not be reduced. The following table shows examples of the state pension outcomes for individuals under the proposed reforms.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Low earner (c £12,000 a year)  Median earner (c £23,000 a year)  High earner (c £33,000 a year) 
			  Under Reform (2053)
			 Basic State Pension 73 73 73 
			 State Second Pension 61 66 67 
			 Total State Entitlement 134 139 140 
			 
			  Without Reform (2050)
			 Basic State Pension 33 33 33 
			 State Second Pension 56 67 69 
			 Total State Entitlement 89 100 102 
			  Notes: 1. Figures have been expressed in 2005-06 earnings terms and reflect the value of pension entitlement in 2050 or 2053 relative to expected changes in the level of average earnings over time. 2. We have assumed that standard rate class 1 national insurance contributions have been paid or treated as paid over a working/caring life of around 40 years, from age 25 to state pension age.

Senior Citizens Forums

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Department provides funding for senior citizens forums.

James Purnell: The Department does not directly fund senior citizens forums.
	Senior citizens forums are responsible for securing their own funding and are financed mainly through membership fees, grants (usually from local government or organisations such as Age Concern) and lottery funding.
	However, we do indirectly provide support to the development of senior citizens forums through our partnership in, and financing of, Better Government for Older People (BGOP).
	We have no plans to offer a government grant to Shrewsbury senior citizens forum.

Senior Citizens Forums

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will meet the leaders of Shrewsbury Senior Citizens Forum to discuss their priorities for senior citizens.

James Purnell: I will be happy to consider a meeting if the hon. Gentleman will write detailing the areas of DWP policy the forum members wish to discuss.

NORTHERN IRELAND

AIDS

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were receiving treatment for AIDS in the Province in each of the last three years, broken down by health board area.

Paul Goggins: The number of diagnosed HIV infected-individuals resident in Northern Ireland, whose most advanced clinical stage ever was AIDS (including those who died of AIDS) seen for care in the survey year, broken down by health board area, is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			   Calendar year 
			  Board  2002  2003  2004 
			 Eastern Health and Social Services Board 33 34 29 
			 Northern Health and Social Services Board 10 11 12 
			 Southern Health and Social Services Board 4 3 3 
			 Western Health and Social Services Board 7 4 4 
			 NI Total 54 52 48 
			  Note: Individuals are aged 15 years of age and over.  Source: Survey of Prevalent HIV Infection Diagnosed conducted by Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency, London.

Assembly

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the next plenary session of the Assembly to take place in Northern Ireland.

Peter Hain: The next plenary session of the Assembly will take place at 10.30 am on Friday 7 July.

Bullying

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether his Department has any strategies specifically tailored to combat bullying of children with special needs; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The Department of Education makes clear that all forms of bullying are unacceptable and actively promotes the development of anti-bullying initiatives through its Anti-Bullying Programme.
	Information about the scale and nature of bullying in Northern Ireland schools is contained in a research report published in October 2002. A research briefing summary is available on the Department's website at www.deni.gov.uk/rb8_2002.pdf.
	The Department has recently commissioned updated research into bullying, in all its forms, and the results are expected to be ready for publication by mid 2007.

Children and Young People's Funding

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria were used to ensure that funding from the Children and Young People's funding package would reduce under-achievement and improve life chances of children and young people by enhancing their educational development and fostering their health, well-being and social inclusion.

Maria Eagle: The criteria for the inclusion of activities under the Children and Young People Funding Package are as follows:
	Provision of high-quality structured learning and related activities, support and services, offered from 8 am to 6 pm in schools, youth settings, pre-school centres, child care settings, Sure Start and Children's Centres;
	Development of innovative approaches to delivery that build capacity and ensure that children and young people who are disadvantaged or marginalised, including those in rural areas, can benefit fully from early years education and after-school activities, supported by appropriate health related services;
	Strengthening child protection arrangements and fostering inter-agency co-operation and collaboration;
	Improving education provision and support for Looked after Children and vulnerable young people;
	Developing and implementing an integrated framework for service delivery, that delivers high-quality, cost-effective and flexible provision that meets the needs of children and young people and their families.
	Putting in place, from the outset, monitoring and inspection arrangements to assure Departments that the provision is making a positive difference to children and their families.
	To ensure maximum impact from the available funding, the programme is being taken forward on a phased basis, targeted initially on children and young people who are disadvantaged, marginalised or have the most limited access to current services.

Departmental Contracts

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what contracts above the European Union threshold have been awarded by  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies since 2000.

David Hanson: Contracts awarded above the European Union threshold since 2001 by Northern Ireland Departments, their agencies and non-departmental public bodies will be placed in the Library.
	Details relating to the year 2000 cannot be provided, as this information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Dietary Supplements (Schools)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether education and library boards in Northern Ireland are using omega 3 and fish oil supplements in school meals; and whether boards have plans to use such supplements.

Maria Eagle: The education and library boards regularly provide certain foods in school meals that contain naturally occurring omega 3 and fish oils, and therefore do not currently provide these as supplements.
	The Department of Education is currently considering responses to its consultation on new nutritional standards for school meals and other food in schools. One of the new food-based standards will ensure that oily fish is available at least once every three weeks.

International Monitoring Commission

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish an audit of the implementation of recommendations from the International Monitoring Commission to Government and Government bodies.

Paul Goggins: Decisions by the Government in relation to implementation of recommendations of the Independent Monitoring Commission are a matter of public record. There is no intention to publish a comprehensive audit at this stage.

Judicial Review

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what occasions an  (a) individual and  (b) organisation has applied for a judicial review of decisions of his Department in each year since 1997; and what the outcome was of each case where proceedings have been completed.

Peter Hain: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Knockavoe School and Resource Centre

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the new Speech and Language Unit and Behavioural Unit at Knockavoe School and Resource Centre in Strabane was completed; what the total capital expenditure on the unit was; when this unit will be commissioned to operate; what the reason was for the delay in the commissioning of the unit; for what reason the unit did not have sufficient recurrent expenditure to open upon completion; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The new Knockavoe School and Resource Centre, Strabane, including Speech and Language Unit and Behavioural Units, was completed in June 2005 at a total capital cost of £3.68 million.
	The school is to accommodate pupils with both severe learning difficulties (SLD) and with moderate learning difficulties (MLD). In planning for the establishment of the Speech and Language and Behavioural Units, the Western Education and Library Board always envisaged that it would be a phased three-year project in order to allow time to establish what staffing complement would be required for the pupils and to establish the extent of provision required within the two units.
	Additional recurrent funding of £170,000 was allocated to Knockavoe School in 2005-06 to develop staff resources and equipment, with a further £174,000 provided in 2006-07 for additional staffing costs. The final phase is planned for 2007-08 with the opening of the Speech and Language and Emotional/Behavioural Disorder Units. Funding of £490,000 has been earmarked for 2007-08 to facilitate this and includes for teaching and classroom assistant staff and equipping of both units.

Lindsay School

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the future of the Lindsay School at the Forster Green Hospital in Belfast.

Maria Eagle: The South Eastern Education and Library Board has commented that the board's education committee at a meeting on 13 June 2006, agreed to commence consultation on the possible closure of the Lindsay School. Such a closure will not take place until an alternative appropriate model of educational provision is in place.
	Any proposal to close the school will require the board to publish a development proposal, which initiates a two-month public consultation period during which comments, including objections, may be submitted to the Department of Education. The Department will give full consideration to all representations made during this two-month period, before making a decision on any such proposal.

Local Government

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has been tasked with developing a generic policy for the retention of local government documentation.

Maria Eagle: Records of all public authorities, including local government, in Northern Ireland are subject to the provisions of public records legislation. It is the responsibility of public authorities to draw up retention/disposal policies to ensure that records of historical or other research importance are identified and, ultimately, transferred to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) for permanent preservation. Under the Lord Chancellor's Code of Practice on the Management of Records by Public Authorities, issued under Section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, it is the responsibility of local government authorities to develop policies for the creation, keeping, management and destruction of their records. This can include the development of a generic policy for the retention of local government documentation. PRONI would advise local government in the development of the policies and quality assure them.

Lung Cancer

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many lung cancer specialists are working in Northern Ireland; and what steps are being taken to increase the number of specialists.

Paul Goggins: Information on the number of lung cancer specialists is set out as follows:
	
		
			  Lung cancer specialists working within the NI HPSS by board area as at June 2006 
			   Medical staff  Nursing staff  Other staff  Total 
			   Headcount  WTE  Headcount  WTE  Headcount  WTE  Headcount  WTE 
			 Northern board 2 2.00 1 1.00 0 0.00 3 3.00 
			 Eastern board 28 21.50 4 3.30 5 3.60 37 28.40 
			 Southern board 5 2.70 1 1.00 1 0.50 7 4.20 
			 Western board 9 8.00 2 1.50 3 3.00 14 12.50 
			 Total 44 34.20 8 6.80 9 7.10 61 48.10 
			  Notes: 1. This information was obtained directly from the NI HPSS trusts. 2. WTE = whole-time equivalent. 3. Medical staff include consultant physicians, thoracic surgeons, cardiothoracic surgeons, radiologists and oncologists, and specialist registrars. 4. Nursing staff include grade F, G and H clinical specialists. 5. Other staff include physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapist and other palliative care staff.  6. Altnagelvin reported that the lung cancer specialists do not work exclusively in lung cancer but are all active members of the lung cancer multidisciplinary team. 7. Belfast City Hospital stated that all respiratory physicians within Belfast City Hospital Trust investigate lung cancer, and that lung cancer is just one of the specialties within the consultant oncologists' job, therefore it is difficult to provide the exact time spent working on lung cancer. 8. Newry and Mourne HSS Trust stated that they have one respiratory physician who spends 5 per cent. of his time on early diagnosis of patients with lung cancer, before referring them to cancer specialists in Craigavon Area Hospital or Belfast. 9. Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust stated that the medical staff detailed in their reply deal with the surgical element of the lung cancer specialism only. 10. United Hospitals Group HSS Trust stated that the two physicians employed there treat lung cancer patients as part of their work, but are not solely employed as lung cancer specialists. They were unable to determine how much of their time was spent specifically on lung cancer patients.  11. Western board area figures exclude Sperrin Lakeland Trust who were unable to provide an answer to this PQ within the specified time.  Source: NI HPSS Trusts 
		
	
	While local staffing arrangements are the responsibility of relevant trusts the Department has a role in ensuring that sufficient suitably qualified staff are available to meet the needs of the health and personal social services and provide modern cancer services. For example, in medicine, numbers in training in the relevant specialty areas will accommodate an increase in specialist numbers in future years.

MRI Scans

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are being taken to reduce waiting times for MRI scans at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

Paul Goggins: A range of service improvements have been implemented by the Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust to reduce waiting times for MRI scans at the Royal Victoria Hospital. The current MRI scanner is operated for 49 hours each week; nine of these are evening sessions funded by the Eastern Health and Social Services Board as part of a waiting list initiative. Since April 2006 an additional eight hours have been resourced to facilitate access to emergency scanning at weekends.
	A computerised information system has been introduced to optimise management of the waiting list. This includes patient validation, data cleansing and regular monitoring. A partial booking system has also been implemented with an associated reduction in 'Did Not Attend' rates to 1 per cent.
	A second MRI scanner has been procured for the new Imaging Centre at the Royal and is likely to become operational in spring 2007. This will have the potential to double current activity.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many members of staff at the Northern Ireland Police Fund are employed by his Department.

Paul Goggins: Three members of staff at the Northern Ireland Police Fund are employed by the NIO.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the names are of each  (a) director and  (b) former director of the Northern Ireland Police Fund.

Paul Goggins: I have been advised by the Northern Ireland Police Fund that the names of  (a) the current directors of the Northern Ireland Police Fund are Mr. D. McClurg, Mrs. C. Carlisle, Mr. I. Clarke, Dr. J. Galway, Mr. C. Jenkins, Mr. R. Miller, ACC McCausland, Ms G. Rice, Mr. T. Spence and  (b) the former directors of the Northern Ireland Police Fund are Ms A. Paisley, Mrs. F. Reid, Lord Rogan, Mr. R. Wilson and Sir John Semple.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what meetings have been held at which the alleged 2003 security breach in the Northern Ireland Police Fund was discussed.

Paul Goggins: One meeting has been held at which the alleged security breach in the Northern Ireland Police Fund was discussed.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether Mr. Colin Ashe is an employee of the Northern Ireland Office.

Paul Goggins: Mr. Colin Ashe is an employee of the Northern Ireland Office.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many  (a) serving and  (b) former members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland have been forced to move house as a result of the 2003 alleged security breach at the Northern Ireland Police Fund.

Paul Goggins: I have been advised by PSNI that no serving or former officers of the PSNI have been forced to move house as a result of the 2003 alleged security breach at the Northern Ireland Police Fund.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to whom the directors of the Northern Ireland Police Fund report; by whom they were appointed; what the appointment process was; how often the directors meet; and how many have resigned since July 2003.

Paul Goggins: The directors of the Northern Ireland Police Fund are accountable to the Secretary of State. To facilitate the setting-up of the Fund, the Secretary of State put in place the first Board of Directors; subsequent appointments of directors, the associated processes and the frequency of meetings have all been matters for the Fund. A total of five directors have resigned since July 2003.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from what budget the Northern Ireland Police Fund is funded.

Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Police Fund is funded by the Northern Ireland Office.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the appointment of  (a) Mr. Desmond Clayton and  (b) Mr. Thomas Hale to the Northern Ireland Police Fund was conducted under the auspices of the Northern Ireland Office.

Paul Goggins: The appointment of staff to the Northern Ireland Police Fund is a matter for the Fund.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date Mr. Colin Ashe was appointed as acting Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Police Fund.

Paul Goggins: Mr. Colin Ashe was appointed as acting Chief Executive on 5 July 2004.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many  (a) serving and  (b) former members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland have written to ask about their personal details being handed over to the Provisional IRA following the 2003 alleged security breach at the Northern Ireland Police Fund.

Paul Goggins: Representations have been made to Ministers on behalf of three members of the PSNI to inquire if their personal details have been compromised following the alleged security breach at the Northern Ireland Police Fund. It has not been possible to ascertain if they were serving or former members.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been paid out in grants by the Northern Ireland Police Fund in each year since its foundation.

Paul Goggins: I have been advised by the Northern Ireland Police Fund that the following amount has been paid out in grants.
	
		
			   Grants amount (£000) 
			 2002-03 1,546 
			 2003-04 l,162 
			 2004-05 899 
			 2005-06 l,618 
		
	
	This excludes the additional payments allocated by NIO to the pre-1982 widows.
	Spend in the current year on grants up to 30 June is £326,000.

Northern Ireland Police Fund

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding has been allocated to the Northern Ireland Police Fund in each year since its foundation.

Paul Goggins: The budget allocation for the Northern Ireland Police Fund was as follows:
	
		
			   Budget allocation (£000) 
			 2002-03 2,300 
			 2003-04 1,500 
			 2004-05 l,800 
			 2005-06 (1)2,080 
			 2006-07 l,800 
			 (1) The budget allocation for 2005-06 included a carryover of £250,000 from the previous year

Nurses and Midwives

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many redundancies of  (a) nurses and  (b) midwives there have been in each health board area in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: In the last five years no nurses or midwives have been made redundant in the HPSS.

Olympics

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which officials in his Department  (a) are responsible for Olympics-related activity and  (b) sit on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group for the Olympics.

Maria Eagle: Paul Sweeney, permanent secretary in the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) has responsibility for Olympics-related activity and Edgar Jardine, DCAL deputy secretary, sits on the Olympics Inter-Departmental Steering Group (IDG) for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games.

Pensions

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what advice he has received on future public expenditure implications arising from possible shortfalls in public service pension funds.

David Hanson: The main public sector pension schemes are unfunded or 'pay as you go'. This is the case for the principal civil service pension scheme (Northern Ireland); the health service superannuation scheme; the fire service superannuation scheme; the police pension scheme and the teachers' superannuation scheme.
	The local government officers' pension scheme (NI) is a fully funded scheme and any deficit would be met by an increase in contributions from scheme employers.

Pensions

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessments have been made of the ability of Northern Ireland's public service pension funds to meet their liabilities.

David Hanson: All public sector pension schemes are subject to regular actuarial valuation.
	The main purposes of the actuarial valuation are:
	to assess the value of the liabilities accrued under the scheme up to the valuation date;
	to compare the value of the liabilities with the value of the assets deemed to be applicable for assessing funding levels, and
	to make a recommendation on the contributions to be paid to scheme participants.
	The resource accounts for the schemes are produced in accordance with Treasury guidelines on resource accounting, and contain a report on the scheme liabilities, with the exception of NILGOS, whose accounts are incorporated into their annual report. Copies of the accounts are published and placed in the Library. Library References are included in the following table.
	The table shows the date at which the last full actuarial valuation for each of the Northern Ireland public sector pension schemes was carried out and the date at which the next valuation is due.
	
		
			  Pension scheme  Date at which last actuarial valuation was carried out  Date at which next actuarial valuation is due  House of Commons Library Reference for Accounts/Annual Report 
			 Principal civil service pension scheme (Northern Ireland) 31 March 2003 31 March 2007 HC504 
			 Northern Ireland teachers' superannuation scheme 31 March 2004 31 March 2008 HC499 
			 NI local government officers' superannuation scheme 31 March 2004 31 March 2007 HC583 
			 Police superannuation scheme 31 March 2006 31 March 2007 HC676 
			 Health service superannuation Scheme 31 March 1999 Currently under way HC492 
			 Fire service superannuation scheme 31 March 2004 31 March 2007 HC600

Police Officers

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on the advertising campaign for part-time police officers in  (a) Moyle,  (b) Ballymoney,  (c) Foyle,  (d) Newry and Mourn and  (e) South Belfast.

Paul Goggins: I have been advised by PSNI that the total amount spent on the advertising campaign for the current police officer part-time recruitment campaign is £104,000. This spend cannot be broken down by region/district.

Positive Parenting

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Department for Education spent on the promotion of positive parenting in the last period for which figures are available; and what this figure represents per child in Northern Ireland.

Maria Eagle: The Department of Education's earmarked budget for parenting initiatives is currently £250,000 per annum and is allocated entirely to the education and library boards. It is primarily a matter for each board to determine how these earmarked resources should be used and they are also free to supplement this funding by allocating further resources from within their overall block grant.
	Funding has recently been made available to 471 schools from the Children and Young People Funding Package for the Extended Schools Programme. This will enable schools to develop initiatives some of which may involve parents. In addition, a further £10 million has recently been issued directly to all schools and it is open to schools to determine whether some of this additional funding should be used to support parenting initiatives.
	Based specifically on the earmarked funding allocated by the Department to the boards for parenting initiatives the figure represents £0.78 per pupil attending grant-aided schools in Northern Ireland. However, this figure is clearly not a true reflection of the actual resources spent on promoting positive parenting within the education sector.

Public Pensions (Transferability)

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures the Department has put in place to assist pension transferability of public pensions for personnel working in Northern Ireland departments and agencies.

David Hanson: The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (Northern Ireland) [PCSPS(NI)] provides pensions for all personnel working in Northern Ireland departments and agencies. The PCSPS(NI), in parity with GB public service schemes, pays cash-equivalent transfer values to other pension schemes in compliance with pension law. Members of public service schemes can transfer accrued pension rights by way of the Public Sector Transfer Club. The Club is a network of public and private sector occupational pension schemes which makes it easier for employees who move between employers covered by separate participating schemes to transfer their accrued pension rights. There is also a requirement under the Fair Deal for Staff Pensions to transfer pension rights when employments are transferred to the public sector under Public Private Partnerships/Public Finance Initiatives or under Machinery of Government movements and subsequent transfers for former public servants.

Racial Equality

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what resources have been put in place by each Northern Ireland Department to implement the Racial Equality Action Plan.

David Hanson: Northern Ireland Departments, the Northern Ireland Office and the Police Service for Northern Ireland will spend at least £7.5 million per annum (£6 million in programme expenditure) in support of the key aims of the Racial Equality Strategy for Northern Ireland.
	Some of the key actions from the Racial Equality Strategy Implementation Action Plan include: £3.2 million towards supporting English as an additional language; almost £1.1 million across all Departments to support Irish Travellers; and £0.7 million per annum to encourage capacity building within minority ethnic communities and to assist integration.
	This remaining costs figure includes where Departments have allocated staff resource to implementing the strategy. The staff estimate includes those staff processing migrant worker national insurance applications and where each Department has appointed a "Racial Equality Champion" from within their senior managers to direct the implementation of the strategy within their respective Departments including actions contained in the Racial Equality Implementation Action Plan.

Recycling

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what controls are in place to ensure that waste intended for recycling is not deposited in landfill sites.

David Cairns: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon) on 27 June 2006,  Official Report, column 367W.

Ritalin

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many young children and young adults in the Province are on Ritalin; and what alternative treatments are being offered.

Paul Goggins: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety does not hold age specific data on the prescribing of Ritalin. A young person should have a full assessment and ideally, prior to prescription of medication, should have tried some behavioural management techniques, parental support and advice and possibly dietary advice. This would be provided through community paediatrics or child psychiatry.

School Trips

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many post-primary school children from the  (a) Catholic and  (b) Protestant communities have participated in trips to America funded by the (i) Government and (ii) EU in the last five years, broken down by education and library board area; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: No post-primary school children have participated in trips to America funded by the EU. The following have had a small Government contribution, about £60 per child, through the Youth Service Community Relations Support Scheme for cross-community trips.
	
		
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			  BELB  
			 Catholic 177 172 126 124 115 
			 Protestant 183 164 125 119 114 
			   
			  WELB  
			 Catholic 112 103 98 88 90 
			 Protestant 113 103 98 88 90 
			   
			  NEELB  
			 Catholic 0 0 6 6 0 
			 Protestant 0 0 6 6 0 
			   
			  SEELB  
			 Catholic 0 0 0 9 0 
			 Protestant 0 0 0 8 0 
			   
			  SELB  
			 Catholic 41 57 32 34 44 
			 Protestant 39 55 32 34 29

Senior Citizens

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to offer senior citizens in Northern Ireland more security in their homes.

David Hanson: Statistically older people in Northern Ireland are still the least likely group of citizens to become a victim of crime. However over the past couple of years there has been a disproportional increase in domestic burglaries committed against those aged 65 years and over as a proportion of the population. It is also recognised that the fear of crime among older people is significant.
	The Community Safety Unit of the Northern Ireland Office has developed and funds the Lock Out Crime Scheme (LOCs) which supplies and installs free of charge additional home security in the form of door and window locks, door chains and viewers, and external front and rear door lighting to the homes of all those aged 65 and over who are in receipt of housing benefit or a rate rebate.
	Since the launch in May 2004 up until 3 June 2006, 52,688 letters have been issued and 16,087 individuals have so far returned forms and have been admitted to the scheme. Since that date a further 4,361 letters of offer have been issued for which registration is on-going.
	In addition on 27 March 2006 I launched a mobile pilot handy van service in the Greater Belfast area. This service, which is being managed by Help the Aged, fits free additional home security measures for those older people who do not qualify for the LOC Scheme. There is also the Unknown Callers TV Advertising campaign aimed at providing information to older people about answering the door to bogus callers. This advert was screened for a total of six weeks during 2005.
	The police offer free advice about home security and personal attack alarms to older people and several of the Community Safety Partnerships (there is a partnership in each district council area) have included the safety of older people as a priority issue in their action plans for tackling crime. These plans have now been agreed with the Community Safety Unit and the Partnerships are currently in the process of setting up their projects.
	Finally, the police have established a special team to co-ordinate the investigations of attacks upon older people across the Downpatrick, Newry and Mourne, Craigavon, Banbridge, Armagh, Dungannon and South Tyrone, Fermanagh, Cookstown, Omagh, Strabane and Magherafelt districts. I understand that this initiative has identified a number of persons who have been charged and are remanded in custody awaiting trail in relation to burglary offences against older people.

Teenage Pregnancy

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2006,  Official Report, column 701-02W, on teenage births, how many under 16 year olds from Northern Ireland had a pregnancy terminated in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The Abortion Act 1967 does not extend to Northern Ireland. Consequently the termination of a pregnancy is not permitted except where necessary to save the life of the mother or where continuation of the pregnancy would involve risk of serious injury to her physical or mental health.
	While the information required is available, the numbers involved are very small and individual patients could potentially be identified. It is felt inappropriate therefore, to disclose information on the number of terminations performed on those aged 16 years or younger.

Under-age Drinking

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Police Service of Northern Ireland is taking to combat the delivery of alcohol by taxi firms to under-age drinkers; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The Police Service of Northern Ireland has advised me that there have been a number of specific incidents in several District Command Units. Police in these DCUs have been in contact with local taxi firms/associations advising them of the implications should taxi drivers be found delivering alcohol.

Victims' March (Dublin)

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2006,  Official Report, column 508W, on Victims' March (Dublin), whether he has had discussions with Republic of Ireland authorities on the attacks upon citizens of Northern Ireland while in Dublin.

Peter Hain: I raised this issue with Irish Ministers at the time. The Taoiseach stated in the Dáil on 22 March that the rioting in Dublin on the day of the Love Ulster parade was in no way representative of the views of the vast majority of the people there. He further added that he did not believe that it would have any lasting impact on the peace process or on relations generally and that the rioting was organised by a small group of agitators and had been rightly condemned on all sides.

Violent Crime

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are being taken to tackle violent crime against the elderly in Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: Older people in Northern Ireland are still the least likely group of citizens to become a victim of crime. However the recorded crime statistics for 2004-05 and 2005-06 to date would indicate that those persons aged 65 years and over are disproportionably affected by domestic burglary as a proportion of the population. It is also recognised that the fear of crime among older people is significant. To address these issues the Community Safety Unit of the Northern Ireland Office is currently leading on the development of a strategy for the safety of older people. It is planned to publish the draft strategy document for consultation in the autumn of 2006.
	On a practical level the Unit has developed and funds a number of ongoing initiatives to tackle the problems of crime and the fear of crime amongst older people. These include the Unknown Callers TV advertising campaign which provides information to older people about answering the door to bogus callers and the Lock Out Crime Scheme that supplies and installs free of charge additional home security, in the form of door and window locks, door chains and viewers and external lighting to the homes of all those aged 65 and over who are in receipt of housing benefit or rate rebate. A mobile pilot Handy Van service was also launched on 27 March 2006 in the Greater Belfast area to fit free home security devices for the elderly who do not qualify for the LOC Scheme.
	The police, in addition to offering free advice about personal security and personal attack alarms, have introduced Operation Bullent in the Downpatrick, Newry and Mourne, Craigavon, Banbridge, Armagh, Dungannon and South Tyrone, Fermanagh, Cookstown, Omagh, Strabane and Magherafelt districts. This project deals with the problem of travelling criminals who commit burglary offences, including those that involve violence, predominantly against persons over 65 years in these districts by co-ordinating their intelligence, investigations of crimes and delivery of preventative measures. I understand that this initiative has identified a number of persons who have been charged and are remanded in custody awaiting trial in relation to burglary offences against older people.
	At community level, several of the Community Safety Partnerships (there is a partnership in each council area) after conducting a community audit, have included the safety of older people as a priority issue in their respective action plans to tackle crime. These plans have now been agreed with the Community Safety Unit and the partnerships are currently in the process of setting up their initiatives.

Waste Incineration

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the incineration of  (a) municipal and  (b) industrial waste is eligible for funding under the Environment and Renewable Energy Funding package.

Maria Eagle: The Environment and Renewable Energy Fund has an £18 million allocation for Energy from Waste projects, and those which could utilise either municipal or industrial waste may be eligible for support. The Department of the Environment's Waste Management Strategy and its guidance on Best Practicable Environmental Option will be strictly adhered to for all assisted projects and this could include incineration as a suitable technology.

Water Service

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what debt recovery powers the new Government-owned water company in Northern Ireland will have.

David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	 Letter from Mrs. Katharine Bryan of 5 July 2006:
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a parliamentary Question about what debt recovery powers the New Government-owned water company in Northern Ireland will have (81615). I have been asked t reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Water Service.
	There are no special measures in the water reform legislation to assist Northern Ireland Water Ltd in recovering debt and the new company is unable to disconnect domestic customers if they fall into debt. Northern Ireland Water Ltd will rely o the normal law relating to civil debt, which involves enforcement through the courts and via the Enforcements of Judgments Office, under the Judgments Enforcement (Northern Ireland) Rules 1981. Consideration is currently being given as to whether the company will require any of the additional debt recovery measures that are available to other utility companies.
	The implementation plan for the introduction of the new customer charging and billing arrangements includes an intensive communications campaign covering the domestic and non-domestic sectors. It will reflect input from the Consumer Council, Citizen's Advice Bureau and Advice NI on payment plans and avenues for advice on debt.

Water Service

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on water and sewage infrastructural improvements in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years; and how much is expected to be spent over the next five years.

David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	 Letter from Mrs. Katharine Bryan dated 5 July 2006:
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a parliamentary Question about how much has been spent on water and sewerage infrastructural improvements in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years; and how much is expected to be spent over the next five years (81616). I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Water Service.
	In the 10 year period from 1996-97 to 2005-06, Water Service's capital expenditure on improvements to the water and wastewater infrastructure amounted to £556 million and £614 million respectively. The following table sets out the annual investment for each of these years.
	
		
			£ million 
			   Water  Wastewater 
			 1996-97 40 31 
			 1997-98 43 26 
			 1998-99 44 31 
			 1999-2000 44 22 
			 2000-01 47 25 
			 2001-02 60 49 
			 2002-03 73 55 
			 2003-04 62 75 
			 2004-05 72 140 
			 2005-06 71 160 
		
	
	Over the next five years, Water Service plans to invest a further £185 million on water infrastructure and £340 million on wastewater infrastructure. This will be augmented, during the first two years, by a programme of infrastructure improvements. The Alpha Project will provide water supply projects valued at around £110 million and the Omega project will provide wastewater and sludge disposal management projects valued at around £122 million

Water Service

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the pension rights of those employed with Water Service will be protected when they transfer to the new government-owned company in April 2007; and whether any changes to the pension scheme require the agreement of the Minister with responsibility for regional development.

David Cairns: Those employees transferring to Northern Ireland Water Limited will become members of a pension scheme which mirrors as closely as possible the terms of the civil service pension scheme. The new scheme will be required to have a certificate of broad comparability from the Government Actuary's Department in line with the 'Fair Deal' policy. The scheme's members will have protections through the running of the scheme by the trustees who will be drawn on a 50:50 basis from management and member nominees; from the pension regulator under whose remit the scheme will fall; and through the scheme's membership of the pension protection fund.
	The precise terms of the trust deed and rules have yet to be finalised.

Water Service

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent by the Department for regional development from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2006 on water infrastructure improvements; and to what projects the funding has been allocated.

David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	 Letter from Mrs. Katharine Bryan, dated 5 July 2006:
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about how much was spent by the Department for Regional Development from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2006 on water infrastructure improvements; and to what projects the funding was allocated (85649). I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Water Service.
	During the period from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2006, Water Service invested some £428 million on improvements to the water infrastructure throughout Northern Ireland. Almost 950 major capital projects, together with many minor works projects, were carried out to improve a number of water treatment works, including Drumaroad, Lough Bradan, Fofanny and Derg. Improvements to the watermain network system were also carried out. The scale and extent of this work varied from small watermain extensions to serve individual housing developments, to large-scale projects such as the replacement of part of the Mourne Conduit which transfers water from the Silent Valley to supply Belfast and surrounding areas.

Water Service

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what European Union funding was spent on the upgrade of water infrastructure in Northern Ireland between 1 April 1990 and 31 March 2006; and to what projects the funding was allocated.

David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	 Letter from Mrs. Katharine Bryan, dated 5 July 2006:
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about how much European Union funding was spent on the upgrade of water infrastructure in Northern Ireland between 1st April 1990 and 31st March 2006; and to what projects the funding was allocated (85650). I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Water Service.
	During the period from 1st April 1990 to 31st March 2006 Water Service, received £44.822 million of European Union funds for improvements to water treatment works. The funding was allocated to projects benefiting the following works:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 Ballinrees Water Treatment Works WTW 4.107 
			 Derg WTW 3.877 
			 Dungonnell WTW 2.589 
			 Glenhordial WTW 1.652 
			 Killyhevlin WTW 10.200 
			 Killylane WTW 3.021 
			 West Tyrone WTW 2.693 
			 Clonavaddy WTW 0.504 
			 Belleek WTW 1.331 
			 Lough Fea WTW 3.894 
			 Lough Bradan WTW 2.870 
			 Lough Macrory WTW 8.084

Working Days Lost (Public Sector)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many days were lost per staff year in each  (a) core department of the Northern Ireland administration and  (b) associated public body in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06; what the total number of days lost was in each case; and what the cost was to each such (A) department and (B) public body in each year.

David Hanson: For the purpose of answering this question, it has been assumed that the information requested relates to the level of sickness absence in each of the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland administration, the Northern Ireland Office, departmental executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs).
	The table at Annex A reflects both the position for 2004-05 in respect of non-industrial staff and industrial staff in NI Departments and their executive agencies. It should be noted that there are differing methods in place across Departments for recording industrial sickness absence, and information such as the average days lost per staff year is not available in all cases. The information on sickness absence levels for 2005-06 is not yet available but will be published in September 2006.
	Information relating to all NDPBs is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, where the information is available, this is reflected in the tables at Annex B.
	
		
			  Annex A: Absence information 2004-05 
			  Department/agency  Total number of days lost  Average days lost per staff year  Cost (£) 
			 Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD)-Overall 40,273.3 11.5 3,033,434 
			 Forest service 1,282.8 10.1 94,328 
			 Rivers agency 2,520.2 14.5 214,731 
			 DARD industrial staff 12,635.0 20.6 707,468 
			 Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL)-Overall 4,653.7 11.0 434,989 
			 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) 1,548.3 16.9 127,476 
			 Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI) 1,283.5 8.1 126,956 
			 DCAL industrial staff 392 n/a 14,780 
			 Department of Education (DE) 8,274.7 12.8 716,665 
			 Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) 24,610.1 14.7 1,760,015 
			 Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) 7,090.8 9.9 570,762 
			 DETI industrial staff 29 n/a 1,802 
			 Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP)-Overall 39,831.3 13.7 2,990,330 
			 Business Development Service (BDS) 3,814.7 17.3 291,929 
			 Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) 3,081.4 9.0 236,663 
			 Valuation and Lands Agency (VLA) 3,453.2 11.2 253,701 
			 Land Registers of Northern Ireland 3,971.2 17.9 238,229 
			 Rate Collection Agency 5,995.3 21.8 341,892 
			 DFP industrial staff 351 n/a 12,199 
			 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS)-Overall 9,584.9 9.5 948,547 
			 Health Estates Agency 1,183.4 8.9 145,488 
			 Department of the Environment (DOE)-Overall 29,241.7 12.0 2,470,560 
			 Planning Service 8,592.4 11.9 800,443 
			 Environment and Heritage Service 5,204.8 9.8 461,967 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland (DVLNI) 8,373.3 17.3 576,398 
			 Driver Vehicle Testing Agency (DVTA) 5,068.0 10.5 418,805 
			 DOE Industrial Staff 1,125 n/a 52,525 
			 Department for Regional Development (DRD)-Overall 32,285.3 10.2 2,877,604 
			 Roads service 15,143.4 9.6 1,238,456 
			 Roads service industrial staff 11,329 n/a 494,958 
			 Water service 10,503.2 9.9 1,025,134 
			 Water service industrial staff 12,258.0 12.6 710,725 
			 Department for Social Development (BSD)-Overall 152,260.4 19.4 9,212,062 
			 Child Support Agency (CSA) 38,789 24.5 2,088,822 
			 Social Security Agency (SSA) 103,481.0 18.5 6,358,803 
			 Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) 3,314.9 8.6 326,737 
			 Northern Ireland Office (NIO) 18,364.5 12.6 1,485,044 
			 NI Prison Service 33,272.0 15.9 3.76 million 
			  Notes: 1. Staff from the parliamentary Commissioner for Complaints and the Planning Appeals Commission are included in the DFP figures. 2. Staff from HSENI and OFREG are included in the DETI figures. 3. The NIO figures include staff in both the NICS and HCS. 4. It is important to remember that information should not be added together to give an overall total as the information for the Agencies is also counted in the information for the Department to which they belong. 5. Note that unless specifically stated staff are non-industrial. 
		
	
	
		
			  Annex B: Non-departmental public bodies 2004-05 
			  NDPB  Total number of days lost  Cost (£) 
			  DARD   
			 AFBI(1) 647 33,220 
			 NIFHA(2) 264 15,730 
			 LMC(3) 290 13,996 
			
			  DSD   
			 Housing executive 47,770 2,915,612 
			 Laganside 38 2,395 
			
			  DCAL   
			 Core (industrial staff) 392 14,780 
			 Arts council 322 31,972 
			 Sports council 788 39,484 
			 Fishery conservancy board 416 13,383 
			 National Museums NI 4,984 n/a 
			 NI Museums Council 6 550 
			
			  DEL   
			 Labour Relations Agency 924 91,082 
			 Enterprise Ulster 2,077 103,133 
			 USEL(4) 213 21,480 
			 CITB(5) 581 53,169 
			
			  DETI   
			 Invest NI 6,553 538,469 
			 NI Tourist Board 1,522 124,804 
			 General Consumer Council 242 23,072 
			
			  DOE   
			 NILGOSC(6) 599 31,716 
			 LGSC(7) 72 8,199 
			
			  DE   
			 Northern Ireland Council for the curriculum, examinations and assessment 1,648 145,000 
			 Youth Council for Northern Ireland 33 4,500 
			 Council for Catholic maintained schools 651 67,000 
			 Staff commission for education and library boards 10 n/a 
			 Belfast education and library board 9,402 n/a 
			 Southern education and library board 8,129 n/a 
			 North Eastern education and library board 5,604 n/a 
			 South Eastern education and library board 4,612 n/a 
			 Western Education and library board 4,959 n/a 
		
	
	
		
			  2005-06 
			  NDPB  Total number of days lost  Cost (£) 
			  DARD   
			 AFBI(1) 661 42,127 
			 NIFHA(2) 203 12,030 
			 LMC(3) 429 38,429 
			
			  DSD   
			 Housing executive 46,476 2,967,366 
			 Laganside 121 5,579 
			
			  DETI   
			 Invest NI 5,309 558,114 
			 NI Tourist Board 2,233 183,106 
			 General Consumer Council 165 13,096 
			
			  DOE   
			 NILGOSC(6) 326 24,468 
			 LGSC(7) 40 3,453 
			
			  DE   
			 Northern Ireland Council for the curriculum, examinations and assessment 1,816 160,000 
			 Youth Council for Northern Ireland 98 14,000 
			 Council for Catholic maintained schools 840 86,000 
			 Staff commission for education and library boards 33 n/a 
			 Belfast education and library board 10,918 n/a 
			 Southern education and library board 6756 n/a 
			 North Eastern education and library board 4,971.5 n/a 
			 South Eastern education and library board 5,594 n/a 
			 Western education and library board 6,798.5 n/a 
			 n/a = Information not readily available. (1) AFBI—Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (formerly Agricultural Research Institute NI). (2) NIFHA—Fishery Harbour Authority (NI). (3) LMC—Livestock and Meat Commission for NI. (4) USEL—Ulster Supported Employment Ltd. (5) CITB—Construction Industry Training Board (6) NILGOSC—Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee. (7) LGSC—Loc al Government Staff Commission.

TREASURY

Advertising Campaigns

John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what advertising campaigns his Department has run since July 2004; and what the  (a) date and  (b) cost was of each.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson) on 17 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1075W.

Child Trust Fund

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the administration costs of the Child Trust Fund in each year since it was introduced.

Edward Balls: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer given to the hon. Member for Leeds, North-West (Greg Mulholland) on 25 January 2006,  Official Report, column 2214W.

Consignment Relief

Jim Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will  (a) reduce the minimum transaction value on low value consignment relief and  (b) apply for complete derogation for the UK.

Dawn Primarolo: Import VAT is not chargeable on commercial consignments of goods with a value below £18 that are imported into the UK from outside the EU. The Government are aware that this relief is currently being exploited, and it now costs the Exchequer around £85 million per year. If the relief continues to be exploited by businesses using offshore locations, the Government will consider changes to prevent this type of behaviour.

Drug-related Deaths

Richard Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many drug-related deaths were recorded in Suffolk in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 July 2006:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many drug-related deaths have been recorded in Suffolk in each of the last five years. (82110)
	Available figures relate to the number of deaths from drug-related poisoning, not the total number that were drug-related. The most recent year for which figures are now available is 2004. The table below shows the number of deaths for which the underlying cause was drug poisoning, for the years 2000 to 2004.
	
		
			  Deaths from drug-related poisoning( 1 ) Suffolk( 2)  2000-04( 3) 
			   Number of deaths 
			 2000 23 
			 2001 37 
			 2002 24 
			 2003 29 
			 2004 34 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 292, 304, 305.2-305.9, E850-E858, E950.0-E950.5, E962.0 and E980.0-E980.5 for the year 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes F11-F16, F18-F19, X40-X44, X60-X64, X85 and Y10-Y14from 2001 onwards. (2 )Usual residents of the county of Suffolk. (3) Figures are for deaths occurring in each calendar year.

EU Labour Market

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the impact of EU labour market liberalisation on the UK economy; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: A more dynamic and open Europe would be a Europe of increased employment, confidence and growth, a Europe which would both promote and facilitate the UK's efforts to boost its own productivity and raise its own economic performance.
	The Government place great importance on economic reform in Europe, and on encouraging greater use of policies that promote flexible labour markets.
	The Treasury keeps EU labour market developments under review, and continues to argue the case for reform in Europe. In a recent joint paper with the Swedish Ministry of Finance,—"Social Bridges—Meeting the Challenges of Globalisation" (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk./documents/international_ issues/European_economic_reform/social_bridges_ paper_cfm) the Government again made the case for reforming labour markets and for policies that protect people's employability rather than specific jobs or sectors.

Households

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) single parent households with children under the age of 16 years and  (b) single parent households there were in Yeovil constituency in each of the last 15 years; and what estimate he has made of the number of cohabiting couples living in Yeovil constituency in each year.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 July 2006:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your requests for the following figures for the Yeovil constituency in each of the last 15 years: the number of single parent households with children under the age of 16 years, the number of single-person households and the number of cohabiting couples. (82137)
	Estimates of these figures are not produced on an annual basis for local areas. Available figures are from the censuses of 1991 and 2001. These are shown in the table below.
	
		
			  Numbers of (1) lone parent households with dependent children aged under 16 (2) one person households and (3) cohabiting couples in households: Yeovil, 1991 and 2001 
			1991  2001 
			 1. Lone-parent households with dependent children aged under 16 1,035 1,810 
			 2. One-person households 9,378 12,023 
			 3. Cohabiting couple households (1)1,118 3,807 
			 (1) In 1991 responses to relationship questions were only processed for approximately 10 per cent. of the population. The figures in this table have been grossed up by a factor of 10.16 to account for this.  Sources: 1. 1991 Census Local Base Statistics Table 32 and 2001 Census data 2. Table F in the Census 1991 New Parliamentary Constituency Monitor South West and Table KS20 in the Census 2001 Report for Parliamentary Constituencies 3. 1991 and 2001 Census data

Late Tax Returns

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have been liable for the £100 fine imposed by the Treasury for late declaration of their annual income in each of the last three years; and how much was raised in total as a result.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answers I gave the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone) on 12 January 2006,  Official Report, column 776W. The detail for last year is in the following table.
	
		
			   Return year 2004-05 
			  Year issued: 2005-06  
			 Total number issued 876,000 
			   
			  Year to end October 2005  
			 Penalties paid (£ million) 39.40

Minimum Wage

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people aged  (a) 22 years and over,  (b) 18 to 21 years and  (c) under 18 years are receiving the minimum wage in (i) Yeovil constituency and (ii) Somerset.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 July 2006:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask how many people aged (a) 22 years and over, (b) 18 to 21 years and (c) under 18 years are receiving the minimum wage in i) Yeovil constituency and ii) Somerset. (82146)
	Estimates for the number of jobs paid at the minimum wage for Parliamentary Constituencies and Local Authorities are not available. However the Office for National Statistics (ONS) calculates estimates of the number of jobs paid less than national minimum wage rates for the United Kingdom and Government Office Regions. A guide to measuring low pay and associated articles and data can be found on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5837 &Pos=1&ColRank=1&Rank=272

Pension Rights (Bankruptcy)

Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 28 March 2006,  Official Report, columns 864-65W, on pension rights (bankruptcy), what estimate he has made of the revenue foregone as a result of his Department relinquishing its preferred creditor status in insolvency cases.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 17 September 2003,  Official Report, column 868W. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs confirm that the estimate given then has not changed.

Population Estimates

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which local authorities have had a reduction in population according to the  (a) 2001 Census and  (b) 2004 mid-term population estimates.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 July 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question about which local authorities according to the 2001 Census and the mid-2004 population estimates had a reduction in their populations. (81984)
	The best comparison between 2001 and 2004 is based on the mid-year population estimates for those years, as the mid-2001 population estimates take account of adjustments to a number of areas as a result of the studies conducted after the Census. The attached table shows population estimates for those local authorities whose population decreased between mid-2001 and mid-2004.
	
		
			  Estimated population: mid-2001 and mid-2004 population estimates, local authorities in England and Wales whose population has reduced 
			   Mid-2001  Mid-2004  Difference 
			  England
			 
			  North East
			 Hartlepool UA 90,200 90,100 0 
			 Middlesbrough UA 141,200 137,900 -3,300 
			 Redcar and Cleveland UA 139,200 139,100 -100 
			 Chester-le-Street 53,700 53,200 -500 
			 Easington 94,000 92,900 -1,100 
			 North Tyneside 192,000 190,700 -1,300 
			 South Tyneside 152,800 151,500 -1,300 
			 Sunderland 284,600 282,700 -1,900 
			 
			  North West
			 Ellesmere Port and Neston 81,600 80,900 -700 
			 Barrow-in-Furness 72,000 70,500 -1,500 
			 Oldham 218,500 218,300 -200 
			 Salford 217,000 216,400 -600 
			 Stockport 284,600 282,200 -2,400 
			 Burnley 89,500 88,100 -1,400 
			 Knowsley 151,200 149,800 -1,400 
			 St. Helens 176,800 176,700 -100 
			 Sefton 282,900 281,800 -1,100 
			 Wirral 315,000 313,100 -2,000 
			 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of UA 249,900 248,500 -1,400 
			 North East Lincolnshire UA 158,000 157,700 -200 
			 Erewash 110,100 110,000 -100 
			 Corby 53,400 53,200 -200 
			 Gedling 111,800 111,300 -600 
			 
			  West Midlands
			 Stoke-on-Trent UA 240,400 238,000 -2,400 
			 Shrewsbury and Atcham 95,900 95,800 -100 
			 South Staffordshire 105,900 105,300 -700 
			 Staffordshire Moorlands 94,600 94,300 -200 
			 Tamworth 74,600 73,900 -700 
			 Dudley 305,100 304,500 -600 
			 Walsall 253,300 252,800 -500 
			 
			  East
			 Luton UA 185,900 184,000 -1,900 
			 Southend-on-Sea UA 160,400 159,600 -800 
			 Harlow 78,800 77,500 -1,300 
			 Broxbourne 87,200 86,100 -1,100 
			 Hertsmere 94,500 93,300 -1,200 
			 Stevenage 79,800 79,000 800 
			 Watford 80,400 79,300 -1,100 
			 
			  London
			 Hackney 207,200 207,000 -200 
			 Lambeth 273,400 268,100 -5,300 
			 Lewisham 254,300 247,000 -7,300 
			 Newham 249,400 247,700 -1,700 
			 Southwark 256,700 254,700 -2,100 
			 Barking and Dagenham 165,700 164,600 -1,100 
			 Brent 269,600 267,700 -1,900 
			 Ealing 307,300 303,200 -4,100 
			 Hounslow 216,000 212,300 -3,600 
			 Sutton 181,500 177,600 -3,900 
			 Waltham Forest 222,000 221,800 -200 
			 
			  South East
			 Reading UA 144,700 144,000 -700 
			 Slough UA 120,600 117,600 -3,000 
			 Chiltern 89,200 89,100 -100 
			 Wycombe 162,100 159,600 -2,400 
			 Hastings 85,400 84,600 -800 
			 Eastleigh 116,300 116,000 -300 
			 Havant 116,900 115,700 -1,200 
			 Rushmoor 90,900 88,800 -2,100 
			 Gravesham 95,800 94,900 -900 
			 South Oxfordshire 128,300 127,900 -400 
			 Spelthorne 90,400 88,400 -2,000 
			 Tandridge 79,300 79,300 -100 
			 Woking 89,900 89,600 -300 
			 Adur 59,700 59,300 -500 
			 Crawley 100,400 98,700 -1,800 
			 
			  South West
			 Bournemouth UA 163,600 163,500 0 
			 Poole UA 138,400 137,000 -1,400 
			 
			  Wales
			 
			  Unitary Authorities
			 Rhondda, Cynon, Taff 231,900 231,800 -100 
			 Merthyr Tydfil 56,200 55,100 -1,100 
			 Blaenau Gwent 70,000 68,800 -1,200 
			 Torfaen 90,900 90,400 -500 
			  Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100 and therefore may not 'add'. 2. Where a difference of 0 is shown, the authority has reduced in size—but by an amount that rounds to zero.  Source: Office for National Statistics.

Population Estimates

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the methods of collecting local authority population statistics; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 July 2006:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question about what assessment has been made of the methods of collecting local authority population statistics. (81985)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) liaises with users of population statistics across Government including the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The ONS provides advice to DCLG on the use of population statistics and on any issues raised by individual local authorities concerning the data and methodology used. Nevertheless, as an ONS product, any assessment of methods used in calculating population statistics remains a matter for the ONS. It is for this reason I have been asked to reply to your question originally addressed to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
	The detailed methodology for population estimates is published here: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product asp?vlnk=575
	This methodology has been developed over a large number of years. Development of the methodology, together with the methodology for other population statistics, is done in conjunction with the Central Local information Partnership (CLiP) subgroup on population estimates.
	The usually resident definition which formed the basis of the 2001 Census enumeration, and hence the mid-year estimates, was the result of extensive consultation with users and was reported in Census Advisory Group paper AG(99) 04 'Population Definitions for the 2001 Census'. A similar process is currently underway for the 2011 Census. For international migration, the population estimates use the United Nations definition of an international migrant (someone who migrates for a period of at least twelve months.)
	The Cohort Component Method, which is the method used in the UK, is an internationally respected method used for estimating population estimates in a large number of countries. ONS is undertaking a study of the Cohort Component Method for the national population estimates, comparing the method used with those used in other countries. This is part of a larger project, Improving Migration and Population Statistics, about which I have written in more detail in other replies to you.

Population Estimates

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to improve the collection of statistics on  (a) internal and  (b) international migration.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 July 2006:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what steps are being taken to improve the collection of statistics on (a) internal and (b) international migration. (81986)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) are currently carrying out an extensive programme of work titled Improving Migration and Population Statistics Project which is designed to investigate improvements to the population and migration statistics produced by ONS. Further information on this work can be found at: www.statistics.gov.uk/IMPS.
	As part of this work, ONS is investigating how improvements may be made to estimates of internal migration which are currently produced using health records. In particular, the movement of students and young men are being considered and research is being carried out so that we have a better understanding of the movement of these and other mobile groups. We are also investigating other data sources that may inform our estimates of internal migration.
	The programme of research described above is also taking forward recommendations from the National Statistics Quality Review (NSQR) into International Migration. The quality review made recommendations for improving the estimation of total migration flows to and from the UK and the allocation of international migration to local areas. This work includes investigating administrative sources that may be used in producing or quality assuring the international migration estimates, investigating potential sources of information about short-term migrants and making improvements to the current source of information on international migrants, the International Passenger Survey (IPS). The latest Progress Report on taking forward the recommendations of the NSQR on International Migration can be found at http://vrww.statistics.gov.uk/about/data/methodology/quality/reviews/population.asp
	ONS are also conducting Local Authority case studies as part of the IMPS programme of work. These aim to get a better understanding, from a local perspective, of the administrative data sources that are currently used in the population estimation procedure. They will also investigate any other high quality sources that the local areas use themselves for population purposes.
	The local areas selected for these studies are ones that are known to have reasons which make their population difficult to estimate, e.g. those with a high volume of migratory moves. It is intended that these studies will contribute towards the improvement of both internal and international migration statistics.
	In May ONS set up a Task Force on Migration Statistics with other Government Departments, to identify improvements that could realistically be made over the next couple of years.

Population Estimates

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the mid-term population estimates; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 July 2006:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question about what assessment has been made of the accuracy of the mid-year population estimates. (81990)
	Population estimates are calculated using an internationally respected methodology. Further information can be found in the detailed methodology guide 'Making a population estimate in England and Wales'. This is published here:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=575
	It is becoming increasingly difficult to estimate the size of the population because of changes in society, which include increased mobility and different living arrangements. Nevertheless, the mid-year population estimates remain the best available estimates of the population on a national basis. The decennial Census provides a benchmark against which national and sub-national population estimates can be assessed. Substantial work has been done on the difference between mid-year population estimates and the 2001 Census. This work is summarised in the final report of the 2004 Local Authority Population Studies, which can be found here:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/LAStudy_FullReport.pdf
	Migration is acknowledged as the most difficult component of population change to estimate. My answer to your question about the steps being taken to ensure population estimates more closely reflect the effects of migration provides more detail.
	In addition, extensive annual quality assurance is undertaken in order to ensure the accuracy of the annual mid-year estimates. Quality assurance starts with detailed checking of the source data used in the components of change (birth, deaths, etc.). Procedures are then in place to ensure that these data sources are correctly processed when deriving the estimates. the calculated national and sub-national estimates, for all 376 local authorities in England and Wales, are then subject to a further set of quality assurance procedures before they are published. These procedures include reviews of sex ratios and age profiles, comparisons of change over time, and comparisons of fertility and mortality rates. Substantial effort has already been undertaken, in recent years, to improve the quality assurance of population estimates.
	The Office for National Statistics is also now investing substantially in a project to Improve Migration and Population Statistics (IMPS). (More information on this project can be found at: www.statistics.gov.uk/IMPS ) The key aims of this project are to reduce the size of the difference between the 2011 Census results and the mid-year estimates and to better understand any difference that does remain.
	As part of this project, we are developing a data comparator tool to enable us to compare the annual mid-year estimates against a range of administrative sources. This work is ongoing and the results will inform our understanding of the accuracy of the mid-year population estimates. The tool was trialled in the mid-2004 population estimates, which were published in August 2005.
	Another strand of the IMPS project is a review of the quality assurance procedures that are currently in place for population estimates. One of the aims of this review is to assess what improvements can be made to existing procedures, and determine whether additional quality assurance is required.

Population Estimates

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what criteria were used to decide which local authorities would be involved in the improving migration and population statistics project;
	(2)  when he will decide which further local authorities will join the improving migration and population statistics project.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 July 2006:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent questions asking what criteria have been used to decide which local authorities were involved in the Improving Migration and Population Statistics (IMPS) project and when the Chancellor will decide which further local authorities will join the IMPS project (81991,81992).
	Information was published on the method used for selecting local authorities for case studies on the NS website in March 2006. For more information see http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/data/methodology/specific/population/future/imps/updates/defaultasp
	Work is currently progressing on four local authorities. We are expected to report on the findings during the autumn. The outcome of the four case studies areas will then be evaluated. The selection and approach of any further case studies will be considered following the outcome of the review.

Population Estimates

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to ensure that the mid-year population estimates more closely reflect the effects of internal and external migration; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 July 2006:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question regarding what steps are being taken to ensure that the mid-year population estimates more closely reflect the effects of internal and international migration; and if the Chancellor will make a statement. (81993)
	Migration is particularly difficult to estimate due to a rapidly changing population structure, which includes an increase in mobility and complex changes in living arrangements. ONS recognised this was a particular issue before the 2001| Census was undertaken.
	The sources used to estimate internal migration were changed before the 2001 Census. Up to 1998 the National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR) was used in conjunction with data from electoral rolls. There were known limitations with the electoral roll data source. For example there were variations in the registers caused by the procedures used to maintain them. It was also possible for people to be registered in two different areas, such as students, and those under 18 were not included. Research was carried out that identified a higher quality data source in GP registers. From 1999 onwards, the internal migration component of the population estimates was based on a combination of NHSCR and GP register data.
	Population estimates use the United Nations definition of an international migrant, which is somebody who migrates for a period of at least 12 months. Mid-year population estimates therefore estimate those that are 'usually resident' at that time. Following the 2001 Census a number of improvements were made to the methodology of international migration. Improvements were made to allow for those who stayed in their destination country for longer or shorter than they had originally intended, and therefore either became or were no longer considered a migrant (migrant and visitor switchers). Improvements were also made to fully allow for the migration of dependants of asylum seekers and to fully estimate outflows of failed asylum seekers and their dependants. Along with more minor technical adjustments to migration estimates, these changes have been incorporated into the revised 1991 to 2001 estimates.
	The National Statistics Quality Review (NSQR) on International Migration was commissioned before the 2001 Census results were published. Please see the following link for further details of the NSQR:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/data/methodology/quality/reviews/population.asp
	Following publication of the 2001 Census the 'Improving Migration and Population Estimates' (IMPS) project was set up and incorporated recommendations of the NSQR. The IMPS project is primarily research based and concentrates on aspects of improving both internal and international migration and population statistics through methodology improvements and the identification of the most relevant and reliable data sources. The project is currently involved in liasing with a number of local authorities (LAs). ONS is working in partnership with these LAs to investigate whether local knowledge can help improve migration and population estimates. Any findings can potentially be applied to LAs with similar characteristics.
	More specifically the IMPS project will consider how further improvements can be made to the internal migration methodology and data sources, one example of this is the issues around students registration with GPs. Research involving international migration will consider improvements in how to distribute International Passenger Survey (IPS) flows within England and Wales. In addition to this, other possible data sources will be considered, as will improvements to the estimations of IPS flows by altering and adding to existing questions in the IPS. In addition, ONS set up a Task Force on Migration Statistics in May. This aims to identify improvements that could realistically be made over the next couple of years.
	We are also researching the feasibility of producing estimates of short-term migrants. The population estimates measure those that are usually resident and therefore do not measure those that are temporarily living in England or Wales. It is hoped that estimates of short-term migrants will be able to be used in conjunction with the existing population estimates.
	Please find further details of the IMPS project here:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/data/methodology/specific/population/future/imps/default.asp

Retirement Age

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2006,  Official Report, columns 1695-96W, on retirement age, whether the conclusion set out in the answer depends upon the assumption of changes in current practice with regard to continued eligibility following career breaks.

Stephen Timms: The probability of a 20-year-old public sector worker leaving employment before age 60 was based on analysis of recent experience. No change was assumed in eligibility for pension scheme membership following career breaks.

Road Pricing Pilots

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether motorists participating in the proposed road pricing pilot will be entitled to lower rates of fuel duty when driving outside the area covered by the pricing scheme;
	(2)  whether motorists participating in the proposed road pricing pilot will be entitled to a fuel duty rebate.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the Minister of State, Department for Transport, (Dr. Ladyman) on 25 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1954W.

Tax Credits

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which local authorities had an increase in the number of people claiming tax credits between 2001 and 2005.

Dawn Primarolo: A comparison of the number of recipients of working families tax credits and disabled person tax credits as at May 2001, and in-work families with children receiving more than the family element of child and working tax credits in 2004-05, shows that all local authorities have had an increase in the number of recipients.
	Geographical breakdown of children's tax credits is not available.
	Estimates for the number of recipients of working families tax credits and disabled persons tax credits, from May 2001 to November 2002, are published in "Working Families and Disabled Persons Tax Credit Statistics, Geographical Analyses", which is available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/wftc/wfdptc_geog.htm
	Estimates for 2003-04 and 2004-05 of the numbers of in-work families with tax credits awards, by local authority, based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are published in "Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards 2003-04 Geographical Analysis" and the "Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards 2004-05 Geographical Analysis". These publications and provisional estimates for the number of in-work families by local authority with tax credit awards as at selected dates in 2005-06 are available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm.

Unemployment

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the change in  (a) male and  (b) female unemployment in Yeovil constituency has been in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 July 2006:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment.
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, sample sizes are insufficient to provide estimates of change in male and female unemployment in the Yeovil Parliamentary Constituency.
	ONS also compiles statistics for local areas of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). Table 1, attached, shows the annual changes in levels and proportions of working-age resident population for male claimants of JSA, resident in the Yeovil constituency, for May of each year from 2001 to 2006. Table 2 shows corresponding data for female claimants of JSA.
	
		
			  Table 1: Changes in levels and proportions for male claimants of jobseeker's allowance resident in the Yeovil parliamentary constituency, May 2001 to May 2006 
			   Level  Proportion of working-age population( 1) 
			  May of each year  Number  Change on year  Proportion (percentage)  Change on year (percentage points) 
			 2001 590 — 2.0 — 
			 2002 465 -125 1.6 -0.4 
			 2003 519 54 1.8 0.2 
			 2004 442 -77 1.5 -0.3 
			 2005 509 67 1.7 0.2 
			 2006 596 87 2.0 0.3 
			 (1) Aged 16 to 64.  Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative system. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Changes in levels and proportions for female claimants of jobseeker's allowance resident in the Yeovil parliamentary constituency, May 2001 to May 2006 
			   Level  Proportion of working-age population( 1) 
			  May of each year  Number  Change on year  Proportion (percentage)  Change on year (percentage points) 
			 2001 205 — 0.8 — 
			 2002 185 -20 0.7 -0.1 
			 2003 191 6 0.7 0.0 
			 2004 171 -20 0.6 -0.1 
			 2005 190 19 0.7 0.1 
			 2006 219 29 0.8 0.1 
			 (1) Aged 16 to 59.  Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative system.

HEALTH

Alcohol-related Hospital Admissions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people  (a) under and  (b) over the age of 18 years were admitted to hospital for alcohol-related problems in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by region.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the table, by Government Office Region. It provides data on finished admission episodes for people under and over 18 years admitted to hospital for alcohol related problems in 2004-05.
	Counts of finished admission episodes for selected(1) alcohol related diseases by regional office of residence and age grouping in national health service hospitals 2004-05.
	(1) Alcohol related diseases defined as following ICD-10 codes recorded in primary diagnosis.
	F10 Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol K70 Alcoholic liver disease T51 Toxic effect of alcohol
	
		
			  Regional office of residence  Aged under 18  Aged 18 and over  Age not known 
			 Northern and Yorkshire 742 6,013 * 
			 Trent 453 4,542 — 
			 West Midlands 573 4,976 — 
			 North West 949 8,693 * 
			 Eastern 356 3,557 * 
			 London 410 6,906 15 
			 South East 799 5,990 * 
			 South West 429 3,690 7 
			 Northern Ireland — 18 — 
			 Scotland * 48 — 
			 Wales 20 138 — 
			 England-not otherwise specified 28 1,017 31 
			 Foreign (including Isle of Man and Channel Islands) 14 97 * 
			 Unknown 33 614 33 
			 
			 England 4,809 46,299 95 
			  Notes: Finished admission episodes. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 ( seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.  Primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SNA) data quality PCT and SHA data was added to historic data-years in the HES database using 2002-03 boundaries, as a one-off exercise in 2004. The quality of the data on PCT of treatment and SHA of treatment is poor in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99, with over a third of all finished episodes having missing values in these years. Data quality of PCT of general practitioner (GP) practice and SHA of GP practice in 1997-98 and 1998-99 is also poor, with a high proportion missing values where practices changed or ceased to exist. There is less change in completeness of the residence-based fields over time, where the majority of unknown values are due to missing postcodes on birth episodes. Users of time series analysis including these years need to be aware of these issues in their interpretation of the data.  Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data; that is the data are ungrossed.  Low numbers Due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between one and five have been suppressed and replaced with an asterisk.  Source: Hospital episode statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care

Breast Milk Substitutes

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what surveys she has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated into (i) the perception of pregnant women and women with young children of advertising of breast milk substitute and (ii) the ability of consumers to distinguish between infant and follow-on breast milk substitutes.

Caroline Flint: The Department commissioned a survey of pregnant women and women with young children in August 2005 to establish whether there was any confusion among consumers relating to advertising of follow-on formula milks.
	The results of the survey suggest that there is some confusion among consumers. Of the total respondents surveyed, 39 per cent. stated they had seen infant formula advertising, rather than follow-on formula, which is not allowed under European Union law.

Cadbury Schweppes (Chocolate Contamination)

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when Cadbury Schweppes plc first became aware of the risk of contamination of its chocolate at its plant near Leominster; when tests first confirmed the existence of salmonella in its production; when the company first notified  (a) the Food Standards Agency and  (b) her Department of the (i) risk and (ii) tests results; what requirements are placed on food companies to report such potential contamination; what penalties may be imposed on them for failing to do so in a timely manner; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Cadbury's Schweppes plc first informed the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on 19 June 2006 that, in relation to the current incident, they had detected Salmonella contamination of products from their Marlbrook plant in January 2006. The FSA relayed the information to my Department.
	Information subsequently provided by the company indicated that contamination of its products with Salmonella Montevideo had been identified in April 2002, but these products were destroyed.
	Since 1 January 2005, food businesses operators have been required to inform the competent authorities if they consider, or have reason to believe, that a food which they have imported, produced, processed, manufactured or distributed, is not in compliance with the food safety requirements as set out in article 14 of EC regulation 178/2002.
	Under the General Food Regulations 2004, the maximum penalties for not informing the competent authorities as above are two years' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.

Care Costs

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost was of delivering an episode of care in  (a) 1979,  (b) 1997 and  (c) the most recent period for which figures are available, at constant prices.

Caroline Flint: The average cost of delivering an episode of care allowing for health pay and price inflation is shown in the table:
	
		
			   Cost per episode (£) 
			 1997-98 1,159 
			 2003-04 1,200 
		
	
	A patient admitted to hospital is assigned to a practitioner responsible for their treatment. This period of care is termed an episode.
	There are no data available for 1979.
	Information is not available on a comparable basis after 2003-04.

Care Homes

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) nursing and  (b) residential care homes there were in the London borough of Bexley in (i) 1997, (ii) 2001 and (iii) 2005.

Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of homes was collected by the Department for the years 1997 and 2001. The table shows the number of residential and nursing care homes in Bexley, as at 31 March, in 1997 and 2001.
	
		
			  Number of residential and nursing care homes in Bexley, as at 31 March, 1997 and 2001 
			  Rounded data 
			   1997  2001 
			 Residential homes(1) 60 60 
			 Nursing homes(2,3) 20 25 
			 Total homes(2,4) 75 80 
			 (1 )Residential data are for Bexley authority. (2) Nursing data in 1997 are for Bexley health authority, whereas nursing data for 2001 are for the Bexley and Greenwich health authority. This followed a merger of the two Health authorities Bexley and Greenwich health authority; the number of nursing homes in Greenwich was not recorded in 1997. (3) Nursing data include places in general nursing homes, mental nursing homes and private hospitals and clinics. (4) Totals may not equal the sum of parts due to rounding  Sources: Department of Health RA and RH(N) returns. 
		
	
	The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) produces data on the number of care homes and places registered as at 31 March each year, beginning with 2003. There are some definitional differences between these data and those for years up to 2001.
	I understand from the chair of CSCI that, as at 31 March 2005, there were four nursing and 29 residential care homes in Bexley local authority. I am informed by CSCI that the reduction in numbers is due to several factors:
	Since 2001, 20 homes in Bexley have de-registered.
	Data collected up until 2001 by the Department included private hospitals and clinics, which were counted as nursing homes. These are now registered by the Healthcare Commission and are not included in data on care and nursing home numbers produced by CSCI.
	Bexley local authority covers a smaller area than the Bexley and Greenwich health authority.

Care Homes

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisations  (a) inspect and  (b) regulate the care home sector.

Ivan Lewis: The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), as the independent inspectorate for all social care services in England, is the statutory body which inspects and regulates the care home sector. CSCI took over the regulation and inspection of care homes in England from the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) on 1 April 2004, under powers given to it under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003.
	Independent healthcare providers in England, including independent nursing homes where care is provided by medical practitioners, must be registered with the Healthcare Commission. To register, they need to demonstrate compliance with the Care Standards Act 2000 and associated regulations.
	Care homes are also subject to inspection and regulation by bodies such as local authority environmental health departments, the fire services and the Health and Safety Executive.

Carers

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the financial cost saving to her Department of voluntary carers in the last year for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: This Government recognise the valuable and vital role played by the estimated 6 million carers in the United Kingdom. The Government have made no estimate of the savings to public funds resulting from the activities of people who provide care on a voluntary basis.

Carers Champion

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent discussions she has had with carers' organisations on their proposal for a carers champion within Government; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent discussions she has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on the implementation of the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 in Wales; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent discussions she has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on its decision to appoint a carers champion within government and the implications of that decision in England; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  whether she has made an assessment of the policy towards carers in other EU countries; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: This Government have noted the call for the establishment of such a post but we believe that existing national directors, for example in relation to social care, older people and disease-specific groups such as cancer and diabetes, should already be taking the needs of carers into account.
	In addition, we believe it is more appropriate that local health and social care professionals work together to support carers locally. This is why, in the White Paper, we encourage councils and primary care trusts to nominate leads for carers' services.
	We have not made an assessment of the policy towards carers in other European Union countries neither have we had any discussions with the Welsh Assembly Government on the implementation of the Carers Equal Opportunities Act 2004 in Wales.

Children (Medical Procedures)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which types of medical procedure may be provided to children under 16 years of age by a medical practitioner  (a) without the consent of their parent or guardian and  (b) where such consent can be waived by the medical practitioner; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Valid consent to treatment is central to all forms of healthcare, from providing personal care to undertaking major surgery. If a young person has the capacity to give consent for themselves then health professionals should seek consent directly from them. If a young person does not have capacity then consent should be sought from someone with parental responsibility.
	In cases of life-threatening emergency where consultation with a person with parental responsibility is impossible, the courts have stated that doubt should be resolved in favour of the preservation of life. In such cases a health professional could undertake treatment to preserve life or prevent serious damage to health without consent.

Community Hospitals

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to make extra funding available to NHS trusts to prevent the closure of community hospitals.

Andy Burnham: Revenue allocations are made directly to primary care trusts (PCTs) and not to national health service trusts. The allocations are determined on the basis of the relative needs of PCTs' populations. On 9 February 2005, PCTs were informed of their revenue allocations up to 2007-08. The 2006-07 and 2007-08 revenue allocations represent £135 billion investment in the NHS, £64 billion to PCTs in 2006-07 and £70 billion in 2007-08. The Department has no plans to make extra funding available to PCTs.
	As outlined in the recently published White Paper "Our health, our care, our say": a new direction for community services, the Department aims to provide more care in more local and convenient settings. This will partially be achieved by introducing a new generation of community hospitals and the Department published "Our health, our care, our community: investing in the future of community hospitals and services" on 5 July which describes how the Department intends to invest up to £750 million over the next five years in a new generation of community hospitals.

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 31 May, about the NHS dental contract.

Rosie Winterton: The letter was replied to on 26 June 2006.

Dentistry

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what dental research projects are supported from public funds; at which research establishments such research is being conducted; how much has been allocated to each project in each year; and which researchers are in charge of each project.

Andy Burnham: The main agency through which the Government support medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Innovation. Details of current and recent MRC dental and oral health projects are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Principal investigator  Organisation/host institution  Project title  Total amount awarded (£) 
			 Dr. L. F. Donaldson University of Bristol Periodontal disease and the relationship between chronic inflammation and pain 471,556 
			 Professor P. Sharpe King's College, London—GKT Schools NFkB/Rel—TNF interactions controlling tooth development 407,219 
			 Professor M. A. Curtis Queen Mary and Westfield College Mechanisms of susceptibility to periodontal disease 101,344 
			 Dr. L. M. C. Hall Queen Mary and Westfield College The rag locus of Porphyromonas gingivalis—horizontal gene transfer and virulence in a periodontal pathogen 274,510 
			 Dr. S. H. Kilcoyne University of Leeds Novel Aesthetic Dental Restorative Materials 44,754 
			 Professor J. C. Elliott Queen Mary and Westfield College Geochemical expertise to improve understanding of physical chemistry of dental caries and biological calcium phosphates 48,224 
			 Professor R. Cywinski University of Leeds Optimisation of restorative materials via 3-D strain/texture analysis of dental enamel 59,725 
			 Professor M. A. Curits Queen Mary and Westfield College Pathogenesis of Periodontal Disease: Generation of Molecular Diversity in the Proteases of P. gingivlis 746,449 
			 Professor M. A. Curtis The Royal London Hospital Medical College Pathogenesis of Periodontal Disease: Generation of Molecular Diversity in the Proteases of P. gingivlis 1,597,210 
			 Professor J. C. Elliott Queen Mary and Westfield College Mechanisms of de-and remineralisation in dental enamel 493,289 
			 Professor P. Sharpe King's College, London—KCL Molecular and cellular mechanisms of dental patterning 846,053 
			 Professor I. Chapple University of Birmingham Differential neutrophil gene expression in chronic adult periodontal disease 114,224 
			 Dr. H. Peters University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Functional analysis of genetic interactions affected in non-syndromic cleft lip/palate formation 325,752 
			 Professor M. A. Curtis Queen Mary and Westfield College Characterisation of the common steps in the glycosylation of Arg—gingipains and synthesis of LPS and APS of P. gingivalis 585,132 
			 Professor M. Wilson Eastman Dental Institute Detection and characterisation of genes encoding antibiotic resistance in the cultivable and non-cultivable oral mircofl 282,010 
			 Professor K. O'Brien University of Manchester The long-term effects of orthodontic growth modification for severe class II growth anomalies 374,464 
			 Professor J. C. Elliott Queen Mary and Westfield College Mechanisms of de-and remineralisation in dental enamel 493,289 
			 Mr. V. Lopes University of Birmingham Gene expression profiling in normal, premalignant and malignant oral mucosa 144,356 
		
	
	The Department funds research to support policy and to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality improvement and service development in the national health service. Current and recently completed research related to dental health and forming part of the NHS national programmes includes:
	A systematic review of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of HealOzone for the treatment of occlusal pit/fissure caries and root caries.
	Chief investigator: Aberdeen health technology assessment (HTA) group, University of Aberdeen
	Cost: circa £50,000(1)
	The cost-effectiveness of screening for oral cancer in primary care.
	Chief investigator: Professor Paul Speight, University of Sheffield
	Cost: £67,331 over five years
	High performance bioactive structures for bone replacement and tissue growth.
	Principal investigator: Dr. Russell Harris, Loughborough University, Leicester.
	Cost: £237,943 over three years
	Refinement and in-vivo performance of implanted composite structures.
	Principal investigator: Dr. Colin Anthony Scotchford, University of Nottingham
	Cost: £156,300 over three years
	A new and emerging applications technologies programme feasibility study of advanced material/bone interface analysis using four computerised tomography.
	Mrs. Sheila Fisher, University of Leeds
	Cost: £34,351 for one year
	The Department also supports the oral health research and development support unit based at university of Manchester. The unit's research director is Professor Martin Tickle. It receives an annual grant from the Department of £100,000. Its purpose is to:
	expand research capacity in dentistry;
	develop the research infrastructure in primary dental care; and
	increase research outputs to improve dental services for patients.
	More information about the work of the unit, including details of current and completed research, can be found at www.ohu.ac.uk
	Over 75 per cent. of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by NHS organisations. Details of individual projects including a large number concerned with dental health are available on the national research register at www.dh.gov.uk/research
	(1 )This project was commissioned by the HTA programme on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on a call-off contract basis so an exact figure is not available.

Dentistry

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the response by the Durham and Chester-le-Street primary care trust to the withdrawal of dentists from NHS service in Durham City.

Rosie Winterton: The responsibility for the performance management of primary care trusts (PCTs) rests with strategic health authorities (SHAs). The Chester-le-Street PCT and the County Durham and Tees Valley SHA continue to receive support from the NHS dentistry support team in developing a commissioning plan for NHS dentistry provision in the PCT area.
	The support team will work with the PCT to develop a robust commissioning strategy, along with providing advice on recommisioning and tendering. This exercise will be conducted in discussion with the four neighbouring PCTs which will merge with the Durham and Chester-le-Street PCT to form the new County Durham PCT from October 2006.
	Approximately £1 million remains in the PCT's dental allocation to recommission additional dental services for its population, with the potential to provide an additional seven fully committed NHS dentists.

Dentistry

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the written statement of 18 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 63-64WS, on NHS dentistry, what assistance she expects to be made available to the Durham and Chester-le-Street primary care trust to provide salaried dentist services.

Rosie Winterton: Resources are allocated directly to primary care trusts (PCTs) to be used according to the healthcare needs of their local populations. Funding for salaried dental services forms part of their unified budget. It is the responsibility of PCTs to commission salaried dentist services, using funding from this budget according to the needs of their local populations and against national priorities.

Dentistry

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the written statement of 18 May 2006,  Official Report, column 63WS, on NHS dentistry, how much of the capital investment for dentists is ringfenced for IT in dentistry.

Rosie Winterton: It will be for strategic health authorities and primary care trusts to make decisions locally on priorities for deploying the £100 million capital investment for NHS primary dental care services announced on 18 May. We intend to publish guidance shortly on potential ways in which this funding could be used most effectively to support dental practices and improve patient services, but we do not intend to ring-fence any element of the funding for specific types of investment.

Dentistry

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there are plans to extend the provision of training for dental technicians at the new dental schools.

Rosie Winterton: As part of a major investment programme for the expansion of dental education, we announced in January the establishment of a new Peninsula dental school with bases in Plymouth, Devonport and Truro and the development of outreach dental education in Central Lancashire and Hull. It is for higher and further education institutions to determine the provision they make for the training of dental technicians. I understand a number of dental schools are considering whether provision for the training of dental technicians could be incorporated into the expansion programme, but no specific proposals have yet emerged.

Dentistry

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the Department will measure the merits of the new General Dental Services contract against the previous fee per item system, with particular reference to complex treatments.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has established an implementation review group comprising dentistry, patient and national health service representatives to review the impact of the recent dental reforms. The group will shortly be considering how most effectively to assess outcomes under the new arrangements. It will take time for sufficient treatments to have been completed to allow a meaningful assessment, particularly in relation to complex treatments.

Dentistry

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been allocated to  (a) dental technology and  (b) dental laboratories in each of the last five years; and what allocations have been made over the next three years.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not allocate funds to dental technology or dental laboratories. The costs involved in having dental appliances manufactured for national health service patients are met by general dental practitioners from within the overall remuneration they receive for providing NHS services.

Dentistry

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1539W, on dentistry, what proportion of all payments due to dentists since 1 April  (a) have not been paid correctly,  (b) have not been paid on the due date and  (c) have been paid neither correctly nor on the due date.

Rosie Winterton: The NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) reports that 2 per cent. of the payments due to dentists since 1 April have been found to have been incorrect, 4 per cent. were not paid on the due date and 1 per cent. were both paid after the due date and later found to be incorrect. The BSA, in liaison with the relevant primary care trusts, has already corrected or is in the process of correcting these payments.

Dentistry

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there were in Shrewsbury in  (a) 1980,  (b) 1997 and  (c) 2005.

Rosie Winterton: Data for 1980 are not held centrally by parliamentary constituency.
	As at 31 March 1997, there were 35 national health service dentists in the Shrewsbury and Atcham parliamentary constituency. At the same point in 2005 there were 80 NHS dentists.
	The England figure as at 30 September 1980 was 13,591. The number of NHS dentists in England as at 31 March 2005 was 20,088.
	 Notes:
	1. A dentist with a general dental service or personal dental service contract may provide as little or as much NHS treatment as he or she chooses or has agreed with the primary care trust. Information concerning the amount of time dedicated to NHS work by individual dentists is not centrally available.
	2. Data on dentists who work only in private practice are not held centrally.
	3. Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded.
	4. The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas.
	 Sources:
	The Information Centre for health and social care
	NHS Business Services Authority

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the index of orthodontic treatment need is used in the allocation of resources.

Rosie Winterton: Resources for primary dental services, including orthodontic services, have been allocated to primary care trusts for 2006-07 on the basis of expenditure on general dental services and personal dental services during the reference period October 2004 to September 2005, adjusted for pay uplifts and with some allowance for subsequent growth in services.
	The index of orthodontic treatment need is not designed as a basis for resource allocation, but as a way of ensuring that needs assessment is carried out more fairly and that resources are targeted on those with the greatest needs.

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the  (a) demand for and  (b) supply of orthodontic specialists in the United Kingdom for each of the next 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: It is now the responsibility of the strategic health authorities to assess future work force needs and make decisions on number of training places. In 2005, the work force review team, which works on behalf of the national health service to co-ordinate and synthesise information about the health work force in England, made estimates for the requirement for the numbers of whole time equivalent hospital based orthodontic consultants and projections for staff in post as follows:
	
		
			   Requirement  Orthodontic consultants 
			 2005 264 184 
			 2006 264 192 
			 2007 264 199 
			 2008 264 199 
			 2009 264 202 
			 2010 264 203 
			 2011 264 203 
			 2012 264 207 
			 2013 264 204 
			 2014 264 201 
		
	
	Orthodontic specialists work in both hospitals and primary care settings including high street dental practices. The new commissioning arrangements introduced in April 2006 will in the future enable primary care trusts (PCTs) to plan and commission services across primary and secondary care trusts. We are looking to develop services outside hospital by encouraging PCTs to contract with specialists working in the community and, where appropriate, general dental practitioners with a special interest in orthodontics.

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received from orthodontists regarding the impact of running costs on practices under the new dental contract; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The representations that the Department has received from orthodontists have focused largely on new or growing orthodontic practices, where the value of their most recent national health service caseload (prior to the implementation of the recent dental reforms) exceeds their NHS earnings during the October 2004 to September 2005 reference period used for calculating minimum guaranteed contract values under the new arrangements. It is for primary care trusts to decide locally whether and, if so, how far to adjust contract values in these circumstances, based on assessment of local needs and taking into account local priorities.

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact of the new dental contract arrangements on access to orthodontic treatment; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: New arrangements are designed to provide a more consistent method of assessing orthodontic needs and enable primary care trusts (PCTs) to target resources more accurately on children with the greatest needs.
	PCTs will need to form a local view on whether to reduce, maintain or increase the level of orthodontic activity commissioned from dentists in line with the local population's needs and local priorities. It is too early to make any assessment of changes in levels of access to orthodontic treatment.

Dentistry

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of people were registered with an NHS dentist on 29 June in each constituency in England.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected in the form requested.
	Information will be available in due course via the NHS business services authority on the numbers of patients who receive care or treatment from national health service primary care dentists on one or more occasions within a given period of time. This will provide a measure that is broadly similar to that of patient registration under the former system of general dental services. We expect the first information to be available in the autumn.

Dentistry

Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why the UK Government have objected to the European Medical Devices Expert Group's recommendation that a statement of conformity be given to the patient from his or her dentist on supply of a custom-made dental appliance.

Andy Burnham: This proposal, which was made by the European Commission as part of their recommendations to amend the medical devices directive 93/42/EC, is still under negotiation between member states in the Council of Ministers working group and no final decision has been reached. The United Kingdom Government will implement whatever amendment is made to the directive in this respect once it has been ratified by the European Parliament.

Departmental Annual Reports

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in her Department did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report in each of the last three years; and what percentage this represented of the total number of staff in each case.

Ivan Lewis: As part of the annual staff appraisal process, the performance of individuals is classified against one of the four performance-related pay categories, where box one is the highest category marking, box four being the lowest. The number of staff who received a box marking of three and four is shown in the table.
	
		
			   Number unacceptable  Percentage 
			 2002-03 24 1.6 
			 2003-04 18 1.0 
			 2004-05 31 1.6 
			  Notes: Box three—most but not all objectives have been met, meaning that performance is stronger in some parts of the job than in others and further development needs can be identified and performance improvements made to reach good all-round standards. These needs must have been communicated to the individual during the appraisal year. Box four—overall performance is weak and objectives are not being met. Development opportunities have not had a significant effect. By this stage, the individual concerned should have been counselled and been must have been aware that their work is unsatisfactory in both discussion and in writing.

Departmental Staff

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of staff in her Department are making additional voluntary contributions to their pension.

Ivan Lewis: Members of the principal civil service pension scheme (PCSPS) can pay additional contributions to top up their pension either through the civil service additional voluntary contributions scheme (CSAVCS), a money purchase arrangement, or by buying added years of service in the PCSPS. As an alternative to membership of the PCSPS recruits from 1 October 2002 have been able to join a stakeholder arrangement, the partnership pension account.
	The number and percentage of staff in the Department who are making additional voluntary contributions to their pension as at 30 April 2006 is shown in the table.
	
		
			   Number  Percentage 
			 CSAVCS 91 4.05 
			 Added years 161 7.17 
			 Partnership 18 0.01

Diabetes

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people with diabetes in England have been provided with structured patient education in  (a) 2005 and  (b) 2006;
	(2)  how many primary care trusts are delivering National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines for structured education for people with diabetes.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally. However, from January 2006, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) health technology appraisal No 60— "Guidance on the use of patient education models for diabetes" requires all primary care trusts to implement NICE recommendations by providing all people with diabetes with high-quality, structured education. Compliance with NICE health technology appraisals is a core standard and is assessed by the Healthcare Commission as part of its annual health check.

Diabetes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many meetings her Department's Commercial Directorate held with her Department's diabetes policy team about the potential impact on patient care of the Drug Tariff Part IX consultation before 24 October 2005; and how many such meetings have been held since that date.

Andy Burnham: A formal meeting was held between Dr. Sue Roberts, national clinical director for diabetes, on 21 June 2006 with representatives from the Department's commercial directorate and the pricing and supply directorate.

Digital Hearing Aids

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she plans to introduce a minimum waiting time of 18 weeks for patients in need of a hearing aid.

Ivan Lewis: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 29 June 2006,  Official Report, column 604W.

Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received on the decision not to renew the contract for the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.

Andy Burnham: At 27 June, the Department has received 1,282 letters regarding the decision not to renew its contract for the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.
	Hon. Members and peers have also tabled 14 and 10 parliamentary questions respectively to the Houses on this issue.

Gender Dysphoria

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what choices of provider are available for those referred for assessment, counselling and treatment, including surgery for gender dysphoria and related gender role anxieties and conditions; whether the achievement of national waiting list targets apply to such referrals; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The care and treatment pathway for people with gender dysphoria and related conditions usually begins with the patient's referral by their general practitioner to a psychiatrist or psychologist for assessment. If the referral is to a consultant psychiatrist, national waiting targets will apply.
	Mental health services are not currently required to offer a choice of provider at the point of referral. If, following an appropriate period of assessment, gender reassignment surgery is recommended, that is usually the subject of a consultant to consultant referral which is also outside the scope of the requirement to offer a choice of provider.
	The Department recognises that transsexualism is a medical condition and that the availability of gender reassignment surgery should be dependent on the clinical need of the individual patient. Primary care trusts commission gender dysphoria and surgery services on the basis of their assessment of the needs of their populations and available service capacity.

Health Services (Stoke-on-Trent)

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evaluation has been made of dental health for under-five-year-olds in  (a) Stoke-on-Trent,  (b) the West Midlands and  (c) England.

Rosie Winterton: The information available centrally shows that average number of decayed, missing or filled teeth (DMFT) among five-year-olds in the area of South and North Stoke on Trent primary care trust (PCT) is 2.01, compared to 0.97 for West Midlands and 1.49 in England as a whole.
	We have also taken note of the fact that Oldbury and Smethwick PCT, which has similar social profile to North Stoke, but receives fluoridated water, has a DMFT of 0.93. Changes we have made in the legislative framework governing fluoridation give communities with high levels of dental decay a real option of having their water fluoridated.

Independent Sector Treatment Centres

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the potential percentage increase is in the capacity for elective procedures in each relevant area for each independent sector treatment centre that has reached invitation to negotiate stage or beyond.

Ivan Lewis: Invitations to negotiate have been issued for 14 schemes which are proceeding on current indicative figures which are approximate and subject to commercial negotiation.
	Total elective activity in England in 2004-05 was 5,577,523 finished consultant episodes. In total, the phase two procurement is expected to provide 250,000 elective procedures per annum, which would be an increase in capacity of approximately 5 per cent. This is in addition to the capacity from the first wave of independent sector treatment centres.

Influenza

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1940W, on influenza, whether the invitation to tender indicated a preference for UK rather than overseas manufacture.

Rosie Winterton: European Union procurement regulations do not allow us to specify a preference for United Kingdom rather than overseas manufacture in our invitation to tender.

Insulin Inhalers

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will estimate  (a) the extra number of NHS psychiatrists that would be needed and  (b) the extra cost that would be incurred to implement the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's proposals for psychiatric testing for the prescription of insulin inhalers.

Andy Burnham: A second appraisal committee decision on inhaled insulin from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) was published on 21 June for consultation. This does not constitute the NICE'S formal guidance on this technology. The recommendations made are preliminary and may change after consultation.

Leftover Prescription Drugs

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what  (a) advertising and  (b) information campaigns her Department has conducted on how to return (i) unused, (ii) unopened and (iii) leftover prescription drugs in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Department actively promotes safe use, storage and return of unused, unopened and unwanted medicines to pharmacies for safe disposal. Since the introduction of the new community pharmacy contractual framework from 1 April 2005, the collection and disposal of unwanted medicines has been an essential service provided by all community pharmacies.
	Information on the safe use, storage and return of unused and left over medicines has been included on the NHS Direct website. The NHS Direct self-help guide in the Thompson local directory, which has been distributed to 17 million households across England from April 2006, has a full-page advert encouraging people to return old and unwanted medicines to pharmacies for safe disposal. Messages about safe use, storage and disposal of medicines were also included in the "Ask About Medicines Week" campaign in November 2005.

Macmillan Nurses

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice she has offered primary care trusts on whether they should fund Macmillan nurses after the initial period of funding provided by the Macmillan Cancer Support organisation.

Rosie Winterton: No central guidance has been issued to primary care trusts (PCTs) on whether they should fund Macmillan nurses after the initial period of funding from Macmillan Cancer Support.
	It is for trusts to decide how many nurses, including palliative care nurse specialists, are employed in each specialty within hospitals. It is for local cancer networks, working in partnership with PCTs, strategic health authorities and their workforce development directorates, to assess, plan and review their workforce, education and training needs for all staff linked to the delivery of local and national priorities for cancer.

Mental Health Act

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what parts of the Mental Health Act 1983 she expects to be repealed by the forthcoming Mental Health Bill.

Rosie Winterton: In amending the Mental Health Act 1983 to deliver our policy objectives, our intention is to repeal some elements of that Act. In particular, our plans are to introduce:
	a new and simplified definition of mental disorder, which would involve amending those provisions that refer to different categories of mental disorder;
	an appropriate treatment test, which would involve repealing provisions which relate to the so-called treatability test; and
	supervised community treatment, which would involve the abolition of aftercare under supervision.

Motor Neurone Disease

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will ask the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to appraise the use of non-invasive ventilation in motor neurone disease treatment.

Andy Burnham: The Department has no plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to issue guidance on the use of non-invasive ventilation in motor neurone disease treatment.
	Members of the public and professionals are free to make suggestions on possible topics for interventional procedure guidance via NICE's website at www.nice.org.uk.

NHS Banks

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many regional NHS banks have been established since 1990.

Andy Burnham: There is only one NHS Bank, which covers all areas of the NHS in England. The Government's commitment to establish an NHS Bank was included in "Delivering the NHS Plan" published in July 2000. The NHS Bank existed in shadow form in 2002-03, and from 2003-04 it has continued as an advisory body.

NHS Complaints

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints against the NHS brought to the attention of the Healthcare Commission and closed by April took longer than  (a) eight weeks,  (b) six months and  (c) one year from receipt of the complaint to closure.

Andy Burnham: The Chairman of the Healthcare Commission has confirmed that the Commission has faced higher than expected numbers of cases referred to it for independent consideration of national health service complaints since taking on the role in July 2004. From launch to the end of June 2006, 15,460 requests for independent review were received by the Healthcare Commission. Some 2,321 complaints are waiting to be investigated by a case manager. The average age of these queuing cases is 6.5 months. Of these, 2,021 have been waiting longer than eight weeks, 1,198 have been waiting over six months and no complaints have been waiting one year or longer for the start of a case manager review. In addition, there are some 2,907 cases under active review by case managers.
	The Department and Healthcare Commission are working together to see how the NHS complaints process might be improved and how better local resolution of complaints can be achieved.

NHS Direct

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the pay reform agenda at NHS Direct; how many sites are waiting for payment of back pay; and when she expects this process to be completed.

Rosie Winterton: NHS Direct has advised the Department that they are making good progress on pay reform and are working in partnership with unions locally.
	Information is not held centrally on how many sites are waiting for payment of back pay but I understand that NHS Direct is currently working on the cost of arrears of pay and expect to have evaluated all relevant timesheets by July/August so that staff can receive their back pay as soon as possible thereafter.

NHS Finances

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely impact on services in trusts which have approved budgets which do not take into account interest and other payments on loans.

Andy Burnham: In 2006-07, the informal and untransparent system of cash brokerage and planned support that had previously operated across the national health service has been replaced by a formal system of interest-bearing loans and deposits.
	NHS trusts that require additional cash will take out interest-bearing loans with the Department that will be disclosed in the balance sheet. This transparent reporting of financial performance will encourage organisations to address financial problems earlier.
	Strategic health authorities are responsible for performance-managing both cash management and financial planning and should ensure that interest accruing on loans with the Department is included in the financial plans for 2006-07.

NHS Managers

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria she uses when deciding to increase the number of NHS managers.

Rosie Winterton: The number of managers employed in each national health service organisation is a matter for local determination.

NHS Treatment

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many British taxpayers were charged for NHS treatment due to residency outside the UK for more than 6 months of the year in each year since 2000; how much revenue was raised from such charges; what criteria were used in deciding to apply such charges; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Entitlement to access free national health service hospital treatment is based on whether someone is ordinarily resident in this country, not on British nationality or the past or present payment of National Insurance contributions or United Kingdom taxes. Anyone who is not ordinarily resident is subject to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended. These regulations place a responsibility on NHS hospitals to establish whether a person is ordinarily resident, or exempt from charges under one of a number of exemption categories, or liable for charges.
	Anyone who lives outside this country for more than 6 months is no longer automatically entitled to free NHS hospital treatment as they will not be considered ordinarily resident here. They will therefore be liable to charges unless they return to the UK to resume their permanent residency, or if they are exempt under another exemption category.
	Successive Governments have not required the NHS to provide statistics on the number of overseas visitors seen or treated under the provisions of these regulations or on the costs of treatment. It is therefore not possible to provide the information requested.

NHS Treatment

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were treated by the NHS for wounds caused by  (a) a knife,  (b) a dagger,  (c) a sword,  (d) other types of bladed article and  (e) a firearm in each year since 1997; what proportion of the victims were (i) male and (ii) female in each category in each year; and how many in each category in each year were admitted as emergency cases.

Andy Burnham: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Nurses

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost is to the public purse of training a nurse.

Rosie Winterton: The latest year for which figures are available show that in 2004-05 the national average cost of tuition to train a nurse over the three years of their course was £19,740. Diploma students would also be entitled to a non-means tested bursary, which in 2004-05 averaged £6,547 per annum.

Obesity

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets have been set for healthcare professionals for assisting patients to manage their weight.

Caroline Flint: National targets are set out in "National Standards Local Action: Health and Social Care Standards and Planning Framework 2005-06-2007-08". For obesity, the current target is to tackle the underlying determinants of ill health and health inequalities by halting the year on year rise in obesity in children under 11 by 2010 in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole. Any local targets are set and performance- managed at a local level.

Obesity

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guideline daily amounts of  (a) salt,  (b) energy,  (c) fat and  (d) saturates are recommended by the (i) Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and (ii) Food Standards Agency.

Caroline Flint: The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) supports the dietary recommendations set out by the committee on medical aspects of food policy (COMA). Dietary reference values for nutrients form the basis of nutrient recommendations on dietary intakes and are used for assessing the adequacy of diets. For adults the recommendations are:
	a reference nutrient intake of four grams of salt per day, and a target reduction in the average population intake of salt to six grams per day for adults. Lower targets have been set for children according to age;
	energy intake recommendations are set according to age, body weight and physical activity levels;
	total fat intake should average 35 per cent., of energy derived from food; and
	saturated fats— an average for the population of 10 per cent. total dietary energy.
	All the above recommendations of SACN and its predecessor, COMA, are endorsed by the Department and the Food Standards Agency.

Overseas Visitors (NHS Care)

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the outcome of her Department's consultation in 2004 on proposals to exclude overseas visitors from eligibility to free NHS primary medical services.

Rosie Winterton: The Department's public consultation on proposals to exclude overseas visitors from eligibility to free national health service primary medical services concluded on 13 August 2004. The response to the consultation has raised some complex issues, which we have been working across Government to resolve.

Palliative Care

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been allocated to palliative care in  (a) England and  (b) the West Midlands in each of the past 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not routinely collect the data requested.
	Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible within the national health service for commissioning and funding services for their resident population, including palliative care. The NHS is currently receiving the largest sustained increase in funding in its history, but growth money is not identified for specific purposes. PCTs will be able to use these extra resources to deliver on both national and local priorities, including palliative care.

Palliative Care

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the financial impact on acute trusts of doubling funding for palliative care, as set out in the Labour Party's 2005 election manifesto.

Rosie Winterton: Ministers have asked the National Cancer Director, Professor Mike Richards, supported by Professor Ian Philp, National Director for Older People, to prepare a comprehensive strategy to develop and progress end of life care. The strategy will establish the means whereby the Government's manifesto commitment on palliative care and also the end of life care strategy outlined in the White Paper "Our health, our care, our say" will be delivered.
	The strategy will set out in more detail the rationale for the new developments on end of life care that were heralded in "Our health, our care, our say" and provide guidance to commissioners and providers on how to bring about improvements in end of life care at a local level and will need to take account of:
	funding issues for hospices and specialist palliative care issues;
	the various issues around choice at the end of life;
	the need to improve the quality of end of life care in hospitals and care homes; and
	the need for more improved co-ordination of services across organisational boundaries.
	Professor Richards has been asked to report back to Ministers in the autumn.

Parkinson's Disease

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research her Department has commissioned into possible links between Parkinson's disease and use of pesticides.

Caroline Flint: The independent advisory committee on pesticides (ACP) provides authoritative advice to Government on all aspects of pesticides. At its meeting in November 2004, the ACP considered a report produced by its medical and toxicology panel on the possible links between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. At that meeting, the committee concluded that although this review indicated a correlation between recalled pesticide exposure and Parkinson's disease it did not point to a particular toxic mechanism or a hazard from a specific compound or group of compounds.
	However, the committee did advise that further mechanistic and epidemiological research be carried out on the association between pesticide exposure and Parkinson's disease. The tender process has been organised by the pesticides safety directorate and has now finished. Two research proposals have now been funded by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, one is an epidemiology study, the other a mechanistic study.
	The issue was briefly discussed at the ACP meeting of 27 June 2006 and a full evaluation is expected soon. A new study by the Harvard School of Public Health has recently been widely reported in the press and ACP shall review this as soon as it becomes available.

Primary Care Trusts

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the reorganisation of primary care trusts will necessitate a change in the way resources are allocated in the NHS.

Andy Burnham: Revenue allocations are made to primary care trusts (PCTs) on the basis of the relative needs of their populations. The weighted capitation formula is used to determine PCTs' target shares of available resources to enable them to commission similar levels of health services for populations in similar need.
	The method used to allocate the 2006-08 revenue allocations to PCTs will not change as a result of the reconfiguration of PCTs. The advisory committee on resource allocation will continue to oversee the development of the allocations formula and will make recommendations to Ministers on any future changes to the weighted capitation formula for PCT revenue allocations post 2007-08.

Practice-based Commissioning

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 25 April 2006,  Official Report, column 1083W, on practice-based commissioning, what her latest estimate is of the number of GP practices engaged in practice-based commissioning in  (a) England and  (b) each strategic health authority; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Information on the number of practices taking up an incentive payment to participate in practice-based commissioning is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Strategic health authority (SHA) name  Number of practices in SHA  Number of practices taking up an incentive payment  Percentage of practices taking up an incentive payment 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 224 81 36 
			 Essex 288 57 20 
			 North Central London 285 43 15 
			 North East London 344 218 63 
			 South East London 284 225 79 
			 South West London 230 172 75 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 233 127 55 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 172 42 24 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 251 76 30 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 347 194 56 
			 Greater Manchester 545 286 52 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 418 113 27 
			 Thames Valley 280 75 27 
			 Surrey and Sussex 363 147 40 
			 South West Peninsula 249 127 51 
			 Somerset and Dorset 177 — — 
			 South Yorkshire 222 85 38 
			 Trent 407 154 38 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 230 — — 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 285 203 71 
			 Kent and Medway 287 — — 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 500 335 67 
			 West Yorkshire 349 141 40 
			 West Midlands South 229 53 23 
			 North West London 437 194 44 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 257 90 35 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and. Wiltshire 314 75 24 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 226 141 62 
			 Total—England 8,433 3,454 41 
			  Notes: The information is correct as of 31 May 2006. Engagement in practice-based commissioning is measured through take up of an incentive payment. This may be the national directed enhanced service for practice-based commissioning or a local alternative.  The Department is planning to publish information on the take-up of practice-based commissioning for future months. This will be available on the Department's website .

Practice-based Commissioning

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) timetable is and  (b) arrangements are for the (i) submission of applications and (ii) consideration of the appointment of the (A) chairperson and (B) members of the board of the new primary care trust covering Thurrock.

Andy Burnham: The NHS Appointments Commission is the body responsible for the appointment of chairs and non executives (NEDs) to all new primary care trusts—both non-reconfiguring primary care trusts (PCTs) and reconfiguring PCTs.
	The final candidate who is being considered for the post of Chair of South West Essex Teaching PCT, which will be the new PCT covering the Thurrock area, will be interviewed on 24 July and the Appointments Commission anticipate that the chair-designate will be appointed at the end of July at a special board meeting of the Commission.
	The non-executive director posts have been advertised and applications received. Once the chair-designate is known, the dates for shortlisting and interviewing these candidates can be arranged. The Appointments Commission aim to make the first NED appointments in September.

Practice-based Commissioning

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 4 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 1782-83W, on primary care trusts, what the figures for revenue allocation for primary care trusts in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 represent per head of population across each (i) strategic health authority and (ii) Government region.

Andy Burnham: Revenue allocations for primary care trusts (PCTs) in 2006-07 and 2007-08 aggregated to strategic health authorities (SHAs) and Government regions and presented per person are shown in the tables.
	
		
			  Table 1: PCT revenue allocations aggregated to SHAs and presented per person 
			  £ 
			  SHA  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 1,160 1,262 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 1,134 1,239 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 1,355 1,484 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 1,406 1,536 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 1,403 1,542 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 1,320 1,436 
			 Dorset and Somerset 1,213 1,324 
			 Essex 1,185 1,300 
			 Greater Manchester 1,396 1,524 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 1,163 1,265 
			 Kent and Medway 1,198 1,312 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 1,136 1,252 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 1,153 1,266 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 1,206 1,311 
			 North Central London 1,468 1,579 
			 North East London 1,478 1,608 
			 North West London 1,398 1,499 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 1,431 1,559 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 1,206 1,319 
			 South East London 1,478 1,594 
			 South West London 1,276 1,370 
			 South West Peninsula 1,237 1,350 
			 South Yorkshire 1,382 1,507 
			 Surrey and Sussex 1,240 1,339 
			 Thames Valley 1,083 1,182 
			 Trent 1,225 1,341 
			 West Midlands South 1,175 1,290 
			 West Yorkshire 1,312 1,422 
			 England average 1,274 1,388 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: PCT revenue allocations per person aggregated to Government regions and presented per person 
			  £ 
			  Government region  2006-07  2007-08 
			 East 1,157 1,268 
			 East Midlands 1,193 1,309 
			 London 1,421 1,531 
			 North East 1,419 1,551 
			 North West 1,378 1,503 
			 South East 1,173 1,275 
			 South West 1,198 1,305 
			 West Midlands 1,261 1,382 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,295 1,407 
			 England average 1,274 1,388

Public Consultations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which public consultation exercises have resulted in the closure of  (a) beds,  (b) services and  (c) other NHS facilities in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many public consultations the NHS carried out in each of the last 3 years; and what the outcome was in each case.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is not held centrally.
	National health service organisations have a duty to involve and consult patients, the public and their representatives in the planning and development of, and any changes to, the operation of services. NHS bodies are also under a duty to consult overview and scrutiny committees on any plans to make substantial variation to NHS services. Those committees have the powers to refer any proposal to the Secretary of State if they believe the plans are not in the interests of the health service. Currently there are four referrals being considered by the Secretary of State.

Redundancy Arrangements

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether redundancy arrangements for chief executives of primary care NHS trusts and strategic health authorities are published.

Andy Burnham: There are two documents covering these arrangements:
	"Strategic health authority reorganisation: chief executive transitions, ensuring good human resource practice and value for money" is specifically aimed at strategic health authority (SHA) chief executives affected by "Commissioning A Patient-Led NHS" changes and was circulated by the Department to SHAs on 8 May 2006; and
	"Standards for implementing good human resource practice and value for money when staff are affected by organisational change" covers all other staff including primary care trust chief executives. This guidance was published on the NHS Employers website on 15 June 2006.

Redundancy Arrangements

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether  (a) primary care trusts,  (b) NHS trusts and  (c) strategic health authorities which make senior managers redundant are able to reclaim some of this cost from central resources.

Rosie Winterton: There is no central fund to finance the cost of redundancy. National health service organisations have been asked to minimise the cost of severance, and where possible these should be financed from in-year management cost savings. The recurring savings will exceed one-off redundancy costs.

Reproductive Health

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many morning-after pills were sold over the counter in pharmacies in each primary care trust area in each year since 2001, broken down by age of user.

Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Brent East (Sarah Teather) by the then Minister of State, Department of Health, the right hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Jane Kennedy) on 11 January 2006,  Official Report, column 731W.

Reproductive Health

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on how she is carrying out her duty under section 5 of the National Health Service Act 1977 with regard to family planning services.

Caroline Flint: It is a matter for local primary care trusts (PCTs) to determine what level of contraceptive service it provides, and whom it commissions the services from, in order to meet the needs of its local population.
	Improving access to, and persuading people of the benefits of using contraceptive methods to avoid the risk of unplanned pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections is one of the key aims of the Government's White Paper, "Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier".
	Earlier this year, all PCT sexual health leads were asked to complete a baseline review of contraceptive services to inform locally and nationally gaps in service provision. The Department has so far received responses covering 245 PCTs.
	Departmental officials are currently collating these data and will publish best practice guidance for reproductive health services later this year. This will link into the White Paper and highlight findings from the review, share good practice and draw out guidance to support at local and national level the provision of contraceptive services.
	To support modernisation of contraceptive services we are investing £40 million (£20 million in each 2006-07 and 2007-08). We have also reduced the rate of value added tax on condoms and emergency hormonal contraception from 1 July to the lowest level of 5 per cent., making the costs of these items more affordable and are working with the industry to increase the supply of free condoms to high-risk groups.

Seasonal Influenza Vaccine

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure sufficient supply of seasonal influenza vaccine for the 2006-07 winter.

Caroline Flint: Departmental officials meet with the United Kingdom (UK) vaccine industry group each year to discuss flu vaccine requirements for the UK. Information on the supply of vaccine for the forthcoming flu season is detailed in the letter from the Chief Medical Officer to the profession dated 29 June, a copy of which is available on the Department's website at: www.info.doh.gov.uk/doh/embroadcast.nsf/vwDiscussionAII/1268E83B317864A28025719C002 E5973.
	Copies have been placed in the Library.

Sir David Henshaw

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints the NHS Appointments Commission has received about the appointment of Sir David Henshaw as chair of the North West strategic health authority; and whether they have been forwarded to the Commissioner of Public Appointments.

Rosie Winterton: The NHS Appointments Commission received four complaints regarding the appointment of Sir David Henshaw, chair of the North West strategic health authority.
	The NHS Appointments Commission is not required to refer complaints to the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Smoking

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of women aged under 30 years who are smokers; what the figure was  (a) five years and  (b) 10 years ago; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The information is not available in the format requested. However, data on the most recently available estimates of the prevalence of smoking among women in 2004, 1998 and 1994 in each of the age groups 16 to 19, 20 to 24 and 25 to 34 is shown in the table. The figures demonstrate the success of the tobacco control policies the Department has introduced since the White Paper "Smoking Kills" was published in 1998.
	
		
			  Prevalence of smoking among women by selected age group, Great Britain 1994, 1998 and 2004 
			  Percentage 
			   Unweighted   Weighted  Weighted based  Unweighted 
			  Age  1994  1998  2004  2004 (thousand)  Sample 2004 
			 16-19 27 31 25 1,084 367 
			 20-24 38 39 29 1,665 542 
			 25-34 30 33 28 3,563 1,291 
			  Note: 1998 weighted equivalents are: 16 to 19 (32 per cent.); 20 to 24 (39 per cent.); 25 to 34 (33 per cent.)  Source: General Household Survey 2004, Office for National Statistics.

Speech and Language Therapy

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many speech and language therapists were employed by each primary care trust in 2005-06; and what the ratio of speech and language therapists to the population was.

Rosie Winterton: Data on the number of many speech and language therapists employed by each primary care trust PCT and the ratio of speech and language therapists to the population has been placed in the Library.
	In some larger areas, which cover a number of PCTs, one PCT will take on the responsibility of providing speech and language therapists for the others. This normally happens where the local authority boundary is coterminous with the boundaries of the PCTs involved.

Speech and Language Therapy

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to increase the number of speech and language therapists employed by the NHS.

Rosie Winterton: It is for primary care trusts in partnership with strategic health authorities, local authorities and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services. This process provides the means for addressing needs within the local community including the provision of speech and language therapy.
	The number of qualified speech and language therapists employed in the national health service has increased by 1,329 (24 per cent.) since 2000 to 6,759 in 2005. The number of speech and language therapy undergraduate commissions has increased by 149 (27 per cent.) since 2000 to 707 in 2005.

Speech and Language Therapy

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria are used to decide on the proportion of funding for speech and language therapy coming from  (a) central Government and  (b) local government.

Ivan Lewis: It is for primary care trusts in partnership with strategic health authorities, local authorities and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services. This process provides the means for addressing local needs within the health community including the provision of speech and language therapy.

St. Ann's Hospital, Haringey

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effect of closing down the x-ray department at St. Ann's hospital in Haringey.

Ivan Lewis: It is for the local national health service to make assessments and decisions on how local services are delivered. However, I understand that North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust has held a consultation, on a proposal to transfer x-ray facilities from St. Anne's hospital to the North Middlesex University hospital site. The consultation ended on 13 June 2006 and proposals will be put before a meeting of the local overview and scrutiny committee, before any final decisions are taken.

Tourists (Health Care Funding)

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account her Department takes of increased summer populations in coastal areas and other holiday destinations when allocating funds to primary care trusts; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Primary care trust (PCT) populations are defined for resource allocation as the patients registered with general practitioner (GP) practices forming the PCT and unregistered patients within their geographical boundaries.
	The prescribing component of the weighted capitation formula includes a weighting for temporary residents on GP practice lists which advantages PCTs in coastal areas and other holiday destinations.
	The advisory committee on resource allocation is reviewing the population base for the next round of allocations.
	There are separate funding arrangements for patients who need emergency treatment away from home where the treating trust invoices the patient's home PCT.

Treatment Abroad

Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health following the ruling of the European Court of Justice of 16 May 2006 on the reimbursement by the NHS of a patient who receives treatment in another member state under the E112 scheme, whether patients seeking infertility treatment would be eligible for treatment under this scheme.

Rosie Winterton: From 1992 to date, 11 applications have been approved for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment abroad under the E112 scheme.
	The Court of Justice's judgment in the Watts case confirmed that it is justifiable for patients seeking hospital treatment abroad, at national health service expense, to be required to obtain prior authorisation from their healthcare commissioner before being treated. The judgment also confirmed that the conditions that apply to service availability within the United Kingdom can also apply to requests for treatment elsewhere in the European Union: primary care trusts will consider requests on a case by case basis.
	General guidance on the implications of the Watts case will be issued to the NHS shortly.

Turnaround Teams

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts in turnaround have had their  (a) management team,  (b) budgetary controls and  (c) reporting systems rated good or better by her Department and external auditors.

Andy Burnham: The turnaround teams were announced by the Secretary of State in a written ministerial statement on 1 December.
	The first stage was a baseline assessment which aimed to ensure there is an agreed understanding of the local financial problem and that actions are in hand to address this. The contract for the baseline assessment was awarded to consultants KPMG. The results of the assessment were published in the report from Richard Douglas on 25 January 2006.
	The assessment was not "good or better" but has four categories (1-4) which gives an overall assessment:
	(1) Immediate priority. Need for urgent intervention to drive turnaround;
	(2) Additional expertise/resource needed to support the turnaround;
	(3) Drive/focus. Maintain high priority of actions; and
	(4) Regular challenge of management. Encourage to share what works and deliver easy wins.
	The numbers of PCTs in the turnaround cohort by overall category are listed in the following table.
	
		
			   Number 
			 Category 1 11 
			 Category 2 20 
			 Category 3 18 
			 Category 4 3 
		
	
	KPMG also provided a management ranking (1-4) which represents an assessment of management's capacity to deliver the turnaround:
	(1) Management are unlikely to have the capability to deliver the turnaround;
	(2) The management team will likely require additional resource to deliver turnaround;
	(3) The management team will require careful monitoring to ensure they are delivering the turnaround but do not require any intervention; and
	(4) The management team have the capability to deliver the turnaround.
	The numbers of PCTs in the turnaround cohort by management category are listed in the following table.
	
		
			   Number 
			 Management ranking 1 11 
			 Management ranking 2 20 
			 Management ranking 3 18 
			 Management ranking 4 3 
		
	
	There was no quantifiable assessment of budgetary controls or reporting systems.

Waiting Lists

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1818W, on waiting times, in what detail data were collected in 1979; whether her Department has previously attempted to calculate the  (a) mean and  (b) median waiting time in 1979; and what the (i) mean and (ii) median waiting time was in each year for which figures are available since they were first collected.

Andy Burnham: The following information on waiting times was collected in 1979.
	 In-patients
	Total list size of patients waiting for ordinary admission.
	 Out-patients
	No waiting time information collected.
	Due to the lack of detailed data available, mean and median waits have not been calculated for 1979. The mean and median waiting times are available on a commissioner basis back to 1993-94 for in-patients, and 1997-98 for out-patients. However, figures are available on a provider basis back to 1987-88 for in-patients and 1993-94 for out-patients.
	The figures are shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  In-patient mean and medians in weeks from 1988 
			   Median  Mean 
			  Quarter ending  Provider  Commissioner  Provider  Commissioner 
			 March 1988 21.7 — 28.9 — 
			 March 1989 22.2 — 29.2 — 
			 March 1990 20.5 — 27.7 — 
			 March 1991 19.2 — 25.8 — 
			 March 1992 13.9 — 20.4 — 
			 March 1993 13.8 — 19.6 — 
			 March 1994 — 14.4 — 20.2 
			 March 1995 — 12.5 — 17.8 
			 March 1996 — 11.8 — 15.9 
			 March 1997 — 13.2 — 18.1 
			 March 1998 — 14.9 — 20.0 
			 March 1999 — 12.9 — 18.6 
			 March 2000 — 12.9 — 18.7 
			 March 2001 — 12.6 — 18.1 
			 March 2002 — 12.7 — 17.4 
			 March 2003 — 11.9 — 15.6 
			 March 2004 — 10.2 — 12.4 
			 March 2005 — 8.5 — 10.6 
			 March 2006  — 7.3  — 8.7 
			  Note: Provider based data only available prior to 1994  Source: KH07/QF01 
		
	
	
		
			  Out-patient mean and medians in weeks from 1994 
			   Median  Mean 
			  Quarter ending  Provider  Commissioner  Provider  Commissioner 
			 March 1994 5.4 — 9.3 — 
			 March 1995 6.0 — 9.3 — 
			 March 1996 6.0 — 8.7 — 
			 March 1997 6.0 — 8.7 — 
			 March 1998 — 6.4 — 9.5 
			 March 1999 — 7.0 — 10.5 
			 March 2000 — 7.7 — 11.7 
			 March 2001 — 7.5 — 10.9 
			 March 2002 — 7.6 — 11.1 
			 March 2003 — 7.4 — 9.0 
			 March 2004 — 7.1 — 8.5 
			 March 2005 — 7.0 — 7.5 
			 March 2006 — 6.1 — 6.5 
			  Note: Provider based data only available prior to 1998  Source: QM08/QM08r

West Cheshire Primary Care Trust

Christine Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated to the West Cheshire primary care trust for the provision of sexual health services in each of the next three financial years.

Ivan Lewis: Funding is allocated to primary care trusts (PCTs) on the basis of the relative needs of their populations. It is for PCTs to determine how to use the funding allocated to them to commission services, including sexual health services, to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations. Allocations made to the Cheshire West PCT from 2005-06 to 2007-08 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Allocations ( £ million) 
			 2005-06 164.1 
			 2006-07 196.6 
			 2007-08 215.3